Macy’s said a black man who was caught on video attacking a white store employee in Michigan was “unprovoked.”
The video has circulated on various social media platforms since last Monday, and the man who originally posted the video, a rapper known by the name FT Quay, said it was sparked by the Macy’s employee saying the N-word to a black man in the store. The suspect is FT Quay’s brother, according to the New York Post, and the attack “was spur of the moment.”
Macy’s rejected this version of events.
“We are deeply saddened about the incident that took place on Monday (June 15) at Macy’s Genesee Valley as the safety of Macy’s customers and colleagues is our top priority,” Andrea Schwartz, senior director of media relations for Macy’s, said to a local Michigan outlet. “Violence in the workplace of any kind is unacceptable. All the materials from the evening have been reviewed and it is clear that the attack was unprovoked. We are working closely with local authorities on this investigation, and will defer any further comments about the case to them per policy.”
The video shows the employee, whose name has not been released, talking on his phone before getting punched in the head.
“I didn’t touch you. … I’m sorry,” the man, who is then on the ground, said. He is then repeatedly hit.
Some Twitter users said the incident should be investigated as a hate crime.
This African American man beat a white employee of a Macy’s.
Security footage shows the attack was unprovoked.
Watch the video and tell me this shouldn’t be investigated as a hate crime.
— HARLAN Z. HILL ?? (@Harlan) June 20, 2020
Share this story. What always happens is that we’re told there was a racist attack, and then when it turns out to be a lie, the story disappears in a flash bc of an effort not to make the black perpetrator look bad. You know, because institutional racism. https://t.co/Kef01O6eiA
— Jon Miller (@MillerStream) June 20, 2020
Find this violent felon and help put him behind bars. https://t.co/r8UiIE6ivT
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) June 20, 2020
Police said they are looking into the attack, as well as the man seen in the video attacking the employee and FT Quay, whose Facebook page is no longer active.
“Officers learned an employee of the store was assaulted by a young black male who fled the scene with a second individual after the assault,” police said in a statement. “Store surveillance video confirmed the assault against the employee. Investigators also learned the assault was recorded by the second individual and shared on social media.”
