A Target employee working in the store’s Starbucks is reportedly out of a job over a video posted online where she is seen explaining how to make a “Blue Lives Matter” drink with “bleach.”
“First, we’re going to start with bleach,” the unidentified Indiana woman said in a now-deleted TikTok video as she concocted a drink and poured it into a glass. She labeled the “bleach” cocktail “Blue Lives Matter,” according to the New York Post.
“Going to add ice because, you know, cops love ice,” she continued in an apparent reference to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “In a cold foam pitcher, we’re going to add more bleach, a little blood of innocent black men.”
At one point, the woman adds a “special blue ingredient” before blending the drink.
@Starbucks Is this acceptable to be poisoning people or even joking about poisoning people? Please take appropriate action and fire this gentleman! pic.twitter.com/spyzKVfsYW
— Stacy Kitts (@Skitts01) August 31, 2020
Target leadership released a statement announcing they have terminated the employee over the “appalling and unacceptable video,” adding that they don’t believe the drink actually contained bleach or was served to a guest.
“This video is appalling and unacceptable,” the statement read. “We don’t tolerate this behavior at Target, want all guests to be treated with respect and have terminated the team member who was responsible. We also have rigorous food safety procedures in place, which this team member egregiously violated with this behavior. We’re deeply sorry for this disturbing video, which TikTok has removed based on the platform’s guidelines.”
The statement continued: “Additionally, after talking to the team member involved, we don’t believe this was served to a guest and don’t believe actual bleach was used, only milk and water.”
Several similar incidents targeting police officers at restaurants and businesses have occurred over the past few months as anti-police rhetoric intensifies as a result of civil unrest stemming from high-profile police shootings.
A group of Five Guys employees were fired in Alabama for refusing to serve police officers in July, and a restaurant in Washington apologized to police after an officer found a derogatory message on a receipt.
Police officers have also been targeted by individuals using deadly force, most notably in the days following the death of George Floyd, when officers in St. Louis, New York City, and Las Vegas were shot at or assaulted by rioters.
