Target Customer Demands Reparations, Gets Punched by Security Guard

The New York Post reviewed the police report of an incident that occurred at a Blue Ash, Ohio, Target store in October. Upon hearing that her bill totaled over $1,000, customer Karen Ivery became irate and demanded that it be paid by reparations. Ivery became so aggressive during her encounter with the manager, the store’s loss prevention officer, Zach Cotter, was forced to intervene. The confrontation ended when Cotter punched Ivery in the face, causing her to fall to the floor.

A statement issued by the Blue Ash Police Department said:

According to the manager’s statement, a cashier called over the manager where the suspect was kind of whispering asking her to make reparations regarding her groceries of over $1,000.

The manager told the suspect that if she wanted a donation, she needed to call in the morning. This response led the suspect to become verbally aggressive, screaming and forcing the manager to back into the Cafe counter. A security staff member intervened and told the suspect to calm down. The suspect began backing him into the security office while screaming.

Inside the office, the security staff member punched the suspect in self-defense and then called the police.

According to the police report, Ivery walked “aggressively” toward the manager. The manager can be seen in the video backing up as Ivery moves toward her.

The report states, “Ivery kept berating her [the manager] about reparations and her privileged life. … Ivery was confrontational with officers on the scene and didn’t want to explain her actions.”

In the video below, Cotter tells police, “I tried to verbally deescalate. She told me that she wanted to [inaudible, possibly “rep”] it out. And I told her we couldn’t do that. And then she said, ‘Excuse me.’ And I said, ‘M’am, I need you to back up or leave, but we can’t do that for you.’ So, she started charging at me. I came all the way back into my office into an enclosed space and I hit her in the face. I have it all on video.”

Asked by the police officer if she was okay, Ivery replied, “Physically, I am okay. Emotionally, I am very, very angry.”

The Daily Mail obtained additional bodycam video and reported that after one of the officers asked Ivery to stop talking, she asked, “Do you know who I am? Clearly you don’t know who I am.”

She also provided her version of events:

I was asking the cashier to reach out to her manager so we could have a larger conversation about how money works, and how provision works, and how it’s been working in our community in a very wrong way.

This is my Rosa Parks moment.

The police report said: “After watching the video footage we determined that Ivery was the aggressor.”

The Mail reported that Ivery was sentenced to one day in jail and charged $110 for disorderly conduct.

 

Now under normal circumstances, I would be far more disturbed to hear about a man punching a woman. But, after watching the video, I’m with the Blue Ash police on this one.

Ivery might think seriously about moving to San Francisco.

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