A Black TikToker is getting pushback from all corners of the internet after she brought a "flash mob" into a Target and called an employee "racist" for trying to stop her.
Social media users are chewing out Baby Storme, who has over 1.6 million on TikTok, for her behavior toward a Target worker earlier this week. Baby Storme rallied over a dozen of costumed dancers to perform a music video for her single "This City is a Graveyard" but the employee tried to stop them for violating store policy.
“We’re gonna have to call the cops on you guys,” the employee, who walks in front of the camera, is heard saying. Another clip shows workers calling the flash mob a "safety hazard," the group crying out in protest. One dancer even remarked, "Hey, if we all just start and multiple people record, they can’t block everyone."
Storme and her flash mob continued singing and dancing in the store with a security guard trying to stop them at one point in the footage.
The singer posted a video of the encounter on YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday (August 13), accusing the employee of being "racist" for calling the cops on them before they entered the store. The footage has racked up over 65 million views as of Wednesday morning (August 16) on X alone.
"This employee literally called the police on us before we even entered the building. it was 9:30, there was no one in the store. don’t try to tell me, a black woman, what racism is. especially if you’re not black," she wrote in a follow-up post. "We’re not uncivilized or violent people. we just wanted to spread some joy. calling the police & calling us a 'safety hazard' when we didn’t even do anything was just wrong. Target is a multi billion dollar corporation & everyone knows what a flashmob is. its harmless."
According to Target's media FAQ webpage, people who wish to shoot videos inside a store must speak with managers first and get permission. They also emphasize that not all requests can be accommodated.
Many criticized Baby Storme for labeling the employee's response as racially-motivated, claiming she was diminishing the real harms and consequences of racism.
"And as a black woman old enough to be your mother, who's experienced REAL racism, I'm telling you that carelessly throwing that word around dilutes its meaning and is a disservice," one person responded.
Another commented on YouTube, "Girl I like your music but as someone who also works in retail: if you’re showing up during the final minutes of closing time, we have to quickly get people out the store so we can get everything in order within those final minutes."
"Sweetie, Black people are telling you that you're wrong. Target is a private establishment," a user wrote in a repost. "They shouldn't have called the cops. But expecting to be accepted when y'all ain't get permission is wild. Them not wanting 40 people randomly singing & dancing in the store isn't racism."
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