Flash mobs are what they are, but while some people appreciate the unexpected burst of entertainment they sometimes bring to unsuspecting shoppers and spectators, others – many retail stores in particular – have rules against such things for a reason, which we’ll get into in a moment.
A woke TikTok singer who calls herself “Baby Storme” took to the Twitter machine Sunday to boast about how despite a “racist” Target employee trying to stop them by way of allegedly calling the police, she and her troupe of so-called dancers continued to sing and dance in the main aisle of her local store.
“This racist target employee called the police on us for dancing in Target… So we danced anyway,” Storme wrote.
Watch:
The problem with her accusation was twofold. First, what evidence did she have that the store employee in question was a “racist”? She didn’t provide any, other than making insinuations solely based on the man’s skin color. Doing that, as I understand it, is what racism actually is.
Secondly, as the Community Notes that were added below her tweet pointed out, Target actually has a policy against flash mob-type behavior:
Our policy
Target restricts the use of its parking lots and facilities to business use only. Individuals not employed by Target or by a vendor providing services to Target are prohibited from soliciting, distributing literature, selling merchandise or holding events at all times anywhere on Target-owned property or leased property when Target has a right to exclude, including parking lots and sidewalks.
How we enforce our policy
Some state laws protect limited forms of expressive activity in the common areas of large regional shopping centers. These protections generally do not apply to solicitation at or in front of Target stores, even if a store is located in a large regional shopping center. Additionally, to ensure a distraction-free shopping experience in our stores, we take the following steps:
We ask solicitors and petitioners to respect our policy by ceasing their activities and leaving our property. However, often they refuse to comply. We partner with local law enforcement agencies to assist us in having unwanted solicitors and petitioners removed from our property. In certain circumstances, we file lawsuits to obtain court orders prohibiting solicitors from returning. This is not a quick process and may not result in the immediate removal of unwanted disturbances.
The responses to her tweet, which were in the thousands, overwhelmingly were not in her favor, with many pointing out how Target was private property and that they had a right to have such rules in place.
It got so bad for Ms. Storme that in order to try and prove her “point” about Target supposedly being racist, she posted a video of a much smaller flash mob from a Target store in Florida, except in that instance the flash mob was white.
This, she indicated in her tweet, was definitive proof that she was right:
Sadly for Ms. Storme, Community Notes struck again, providing context for the video and noting that the white flash mob in question actually did get into quite a bit of trouble after what they did that day.
“This video was taken on September 15, 2020 at a Target in Fort Lauderdale, FL,” the note read, complete with a link to the news story. “Target asked the protesters to leave and issued a statement condemning the protesters as ‘disruptive and rude to other shoppers.’ Protestors were later cited for violating the county mask mandate.”
Because racial flamethrowers will never ever let facts get in the way of a good old-fashioned fake narrative, Ms. Storme continued on with her Twitter rants, at one point insinuating some of her detractors were bullies for supposedly picking on a “23-year-old girl” (and one who very publicly accused another person – complete with a video of that person’s face – of racism).
She also told her critics to “go to hell” and that she would not be deterred from (falsely) smearing the Target employee and others clapping back at her for her stunt as racists because she could.
When all was said and done, Ms. Storme got the attention she craved, as wokesters often do.
While this post adds to that attention, it should be pointed out that not all types of publicity are the good kind, and that the attention, in this case, was warranted considering such allegations can follow people around forever if not nipped in the bud well before it gets to that point.
Flashback: ‘Kroger Andy’ Gets Last Laugh After Targeted by Social Media Shamer in Grocery Store Mask Dispute