Diversity and Inclusion and Getting Assaulted in Target: Has the Pendulum Swung Too Far the Other Way?
I was shopping with my wife at a Target store in Brooklyn, NY yesterday on Flatbush Ave. As we were headed out, my wife went to the checkout line to pay and I headed to the restroom. We were perhaps 25 feet from security at the front of the store. A women with a shopping cart at an angle going the “wrong way” blocked my natural path so I went in the opposite lane of shopper traffic. I attempted to pass two African American men in the other “lane” by going all the way to the outside. I don’t believe I was going fast and believe there was a fair amount for room for everyone to fit-but as I passed them, one of the men quickly raised one of his elbows like a weapon and thrust it quickly and forcefully into my nose, breaking it in two places. The assailant yelled something at me, but I was so dazed and my glasses were askew and there was blood in my mouth that I couldn’t hear what he said.
I headed to security at the front of the store by the escalator to report the incident and my assailant turned the other way and went shopping in the store. I reported the incident to security (African American) as to what had happened and that my assailant was still in the store and what he looked like. There were several other Target employees who appeared (all African American). They told me they couldn’t do anything and that I should call 911, which I did as my nose bled heavily. They looked disinterested at best. They didn’t ask me to identify my assailant who was still in store or what happened and whether there was any altercation or any who/what/where/why about the incident.
While I was with security, I saw the other man that was with my assailant and he stopped briefly to talk with us. He knew the assailant. At this point, my wife was with me as were several other women from the community. We tried to get security to stop and question the other man-but they wouldn’t do it. Finally, the assailant himself appeared again as he was walking out of the store. I pointed him out to security, but they just ignored me. They said that this was solely a police issue and that they wouldn’t get involved. The police showed up and took a statement, they checked the security footage and verified it was an assault and then they left. I don’t believe they even questioned Target security. Unfortunately, I should have been even more vocal and made a scene-but I was dazed with a broken nose and wasn’t feeling well. I blacked out not long after the paramedics arrived.
My experience raise several troubling questions in light of race issues, security and law enforcement in this country and whether in light of sensitivity over race, we have allowed the pendulum to swing too far the other way in that the law isn’t enforced against certain portions of the population in name of race equality. Potential lawbreakers in these demographic know this. Additionally, this only reinforces stereotypes and biases, which helps none of us.
Target isn’t obligated to have security, but they do. Would they have treated the assailant differently and tried to apprehend him if he stole a plasma TV? Or would they have asked someone else to call 911?
I am a white male. The store security personnel were all African American and the assailant was African American. Would the response have been different if the assailant was a large white man and victim an older African American grandmother? Is Target security trained? If so, were they incompetent or was their indifference and apathy towards the incident by design? Target corporate literature makes it very clear that they take diversity seriously and have corporate goals to hire people of color. However, did this diversity and inclusion backfire in the worst way if their security selectively decides when to make an issue of something and when not to and was their lack of response race related? Target employees didn’t elbow me in the face, but the logical conclusion of their response towards the matter suggests that lawbreakers of certain demographics feel emboldened to commit crimes in Target stores because they know they will get a free pass.
Sincerely,
Anonymous (For Privacy and Safety Reasons)
NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
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44 Responses
This may be a racist/anti semitic incident or it may not be…
Target security is there to protect Target property, or maybe even to break up a fight, but that’s probably where it ends. They can’t arrest anyone for getting into a fight, and if two African Americans got into a fight their response would have been exactly the same.
Why does anyone still shop in this cursed store? It’s a rat hole. Do you know how many violent incidents there have been in that place in the past 3 years? Do you know how the store responded in all the incidents?
BAN TARGET NOW
Keep voting democRAT and this will escalate. Had it been the other way around all the democrats including the jino ones would scream high hell. Register to vote.
There has to be more to this story.
Author self-describes as Jewish, and then as “white”. I will never understand why so many acheinu kol beis yisroel deem themselves “white”. We are a minority, scorned by the white world, and viewed by them as lower than the dust of this Earth. We are in galus and we need to stop pretending that we are adjacent to White Christian society. If you have any qualms, ask yourselves why Jews are not quantified among White Supremacists.
this is shocking – i understand that Target are not the police however when an incident like this happens in your store and the security simply ignore it without even providing any assistance at all – BAN TARGET NOW – DONT SHOP AT THIS ANTISEMITIC RACIST DISGUSTING STORE !!!
When you patronize such stores that just have contempt for you a s customer, that’s what you get! We should not patronize them and fliers should go around your neighborhood – let the Target people see the fliers too and then maybe – although not likely – you’ll see something change! Either shop by your local Jewish stores or online, then you’ll be safe!
This is very simple.
Hire a competent lawyer and sue Target. In addition to settling on a dollar amount, also demand some firings! Any of the security detail who refused to help, needs to be fired immediately!
The next security guard will react very differently if they want to keep their job.
This is very simple. Sorry you had to experience this.
Hatzlacha!
> yungerman1
> “They can’t arrest anyone for getting into a fight, and if two African Americans got into a fight their response would have been exactly the same.”
But the question is what would they do if it was a white male hitting an African American, and for that matter and maybe more important, how the media and politicians would react.
It’s interesting that he was so reliant on the Target Staff and local police. What he should have done was call some buddies.. Man what I’d give to take a swing at that piece of filth.
Yes, we’re in Galus. But that doesn’t mean we are to sit back when things like this happen…
I myself am looking into the matter. Just a simple Jew here.
We’ll reveal who this animal and persecute him to the fullest extent of the law. We’re gonna throw the book at him. He’ll understand why we are the עם קשי עורף
This could be an anti-semitic racially quality issue but it can also just be a bunch of bums that don’t want to do their jobs.
Pepper spray.
There is another target store on 18th ave. by 64 street a little smaller then the 1 on flatbush ave. the neighberhood and most of the shoppers there is idefinitely a much safer environment
perhaps our neighborhood should consider boycotting this Target store?
Next time I’m in the mood to attack someone, I shall know that it is safe for me to do so in Target, where I don’t have be to worry about being apprehended.
& even if I would be apprehended, de Blasio shall be there to release me immediately.
YUNGERMAN1- u are not familiar with security protocal , they are there to protect property & CUSTOMERS . they are not obligated to put themselves in danger but confronting a perp for details is basic. if pd took footage have chaim deutch call the captain & press charges
next time ladies in target call flatbush shomrim they be there in minutes
I’m not sure why you’re writing. Do you want compensation? People to be fired? Have you approached Target HQ? Retained a lawyer to file a complaint with the store, the precinct, the security company? Did you or your wife ask to speak to the store manager? Get witness information?
I appreciate the severity of the attack & that as much physical pain you’re in is matched by the emotional trauma. I suggest you speak to an attorney and get solid advice if you want to take it further. It’s a terrible experience, refuah shleima.
I think this should be a lesson for every jewish customer that you should support your local jewish merchants .
Do not go out to those stores in such a neighborhood , you can shop Target on line and for $35 purchase you get free delivery. The Sineh towards jews has become out of hand and the more you can avoid those places the safer you will be.
If this was the other way around, Sharpton would have a mob burning down the store. Too many BLM supporters believe Jews are cursed and deserving of abuse. Disgrace. Target needs to fire all security guards that stood idly by.
file a lawsuit
Welcome to Lib Country with a possible Lib Leftist President!
Start learning self defense.
what he should is call a lawyer and let his lawyer call the local news station and watch how Target will help on the manhunt for the person who assaulted an elderly man in Target
This is an excellent letter, fair, detailed, unemotional. Please send it to Target headquarters, Target Customer Relations, the local store manager, local better business bureau, city department of business affairs, the New York Times, NYPD, etc., and make sure to include all addressees in the cc on all copies, as well as following the other good suggestions by other commenters. (oh, for the heck of it, send it to a few organizations such as the ADL, the Lawyers Committee for Civils Rights Under Law, Alliance Defending Freedom also)
The way you describe it, you should definitely get yourself a good lawyer and file a lawsuit against Target, the store as well as the corporation. Why? For their security guards incompetency when it comes to protecting people.
I’ll bet had it been a white person punching a shvartza, all hell would have already broken loose in Brooklyn.
Hopefully they didn’t delete the security footage so you better get moving on it.
I presume when you went to the hospital to have your face looked at or the doctor, that they noted it happened due to an assault at Target. I also urge you to get a copy of the police report. There should have been a report that the officers made.
The problem is because you people in New York elect socialist Comrade Wilhelm de Blasio, You have these people on the streets. There’s no justice. They get picked up and they got let out right away. Hopefully BeH law and order will prevail again in New York and as well as other Democrat enclaves.
Beli Neder, I will never step into that Target again.
Also, like the others have implied, what separates us, as a people, from many others, is that $.50 of every Jewish $1, is spent at a Jewish establishment (or to be more accurate, $.49 on tuition and $.01 at the establishment). Support your local businesses even if costs you an extra shekel.
Lawsuit is the answer.
My advice is to remove this article, not post it anywhere else, and hire a good attorney to file a lawsuit. I think you would win a nice settlement. (I’ve always heard that in legal matters not to post publicly about it until after everything is settled.) I’m sorry for your suffering, both physical and psychological.
What happened to his CAMERA??????
Why are there so many dumb people? Why are there no pictures of the perp?
Why do I not hear him demand subpoena the camera footage of the target?
Take this to the news. Call one or more of the local news stations and report this to them and ask them to cover it. I would think the last thing Target wants is for this to become a news item. That’s all assuming the liberal media would even consider this to be something worth reporting.
Target is not an antisemitic store. Some of its customers are for sure antisemitic but is Target supposed to racially profile them and not let them in the store? The place to raise what happened here is not on YWN but with senior Target management. From looking around on my visits to this store, its Jewish customers spend a lot of money, something the store managers have also no doubt noticed. It may be true that in a narrow legal sense the security men could not do anything concrete – except call the police and an ambulance. That was their failure and that Target will certainly view as a serious lapse in the standards the store sets for its employees, and may reach out to compensate the gentleman. But again the place to raise this is with Target. If it had been Target employees who attacked the poor man, it would be quite different but that was not the case.
People still shop in stores these days?
Sounds like sodom
I don’t understand why people are questioning the purpose of the letter writer in sending in this letter.
For those who haven’t shopped at Target in that area, and might consider doing so, he has done them a service so that they know to keep an eye out for sub-animals like that which attacked him.
It also provides an anecdotal illustration of the situation for Jews in Brooklyn when shopping in more “mixed” areas.
Agree with Ferd and kollelman, Jews need to Boycott that target until the consequences are put in place and all involved fired. Also, sue target; hope you could keep us posted. Hope everyone understands that these are the consequences for us Jews for voting democrat. If you want change start voting republican.
I don’t think y’all understand the complicity that a Target worker goes through. That’s a situation where they are told to handle certain things a certain way. Race do not play a factor in what happens there because if you want to be honest, the African American community get treated horrible everywhere.
Covid had changed the way them security handle things. That was a physical issue that all they can do is call the police which they did, something you didn’t see because of the attack. I was there and seen security call the police and followed the person to see who it was. They spotted the easy because they stayed with the person , mind you it’s more than one security guard there.
You have to understand these guys protocol and what they go through on a regular basis. This is not a race matter or anything. It’s the matter of their safety and yours. The best way they can handle it was to call the police, just like you. They can’t touch them or even confront them because they are not peace officer. So before you bash anyone, you should have partnered up with them rather than assuming that they don’t care.
Don’t go to bad neighborhoods to shop. This target is a BAD neighborhood ie BLACK. I havent shopped there since my 80 year old mother was shoved by a black woman while waiting online. That was my clarion call to realize bad neighborhood equals bad people shopping. There is a target on kings highway and east 14 which when I rarely go I feel like getting in and out as fast as possible as the whole target culture is black. As many people recall there was a frume woman who had an incident with a black woman hitting her about two years ago and also in that case the security guards if you can call them that did nothing. Yidden should boycott target there are plenty of other stores that carry the same things or go online to Walmart .com and order what you need. Target is not a place for “fun or enjoyable” browsing that ship has sailed. Wishing the victim a refuah shlama.
There is a rude but fitting response to this article.. No s..t.. sherlock.. When will the yidden in NY wake up? You are in an african jungle with vicious, wild animals without an AR to shoot them.. . Run for your lives.
I stopped shopping in that hellhole when they made the bathrooms gender neutral. If they can have sick predators who “identify as women” use the same restroom as biological women then I will take my money elsewhere thank you very much.
What makes you think security would have gotten involved had you been black. The fact that they didn’t get involved was about how they viewed a random black who already got violent for no apparent reason, it had nothing to do with how they viewed you.
RebYossele, a small correction, we are in galus BY CHOICE.
Maybe its time to absolve the galus.
Can we all stop talking about race. The guy who elbowed him was violent and that’s all that really matters and that is really why he’s upset – bc he got violently abused in target and no one helped him.
There is also violence toward black people and italians and whites and asians etc.
Let’s condemn violence and that’s all ..
@”Your friend” –
“Condemn violence”?!… are you for real?? What world do you live in!? Do you think being a helpless victim who anonymously ‘condemns violence’ on YWN and at your Shabbos table is going to make one blip of a difference in reducing the violence perpetrated by low brow people like the assailant in this story?! If you do, I have a bridge to sell you. Condemning violence, going to the police, or even suing the perp for all the money he has (probably not much) wouldn’t have done a darned thing to save the author’s family from becoming a widow and orphans (ch”v) if the perp decided to step up the level of violence, or if the victim fell down and cracked his skull open. No. The ONLY answer to random violence like this should be decisive, overwhelming violence. Arm and train yourselves and your families. You are your first, last, and only line of defense against violent criminals like this. The Jewish community, more than ANYONE, should know this. Too many Jews have a slave/golus loser mentality like the ovdei avodah zara who left Mitzrayim, instead of an Am Hanivchar winner mentality like the Nation who entered Eretz Yisroel.
Has this been reported anywhere else? Has Target made a statement?
I contacted Target’s corporate offices for a statement. They spoke with the store security and made the following statement, verbatim:
“Target stands firmly against anti-Semitism and we don’t tolerate violence of any kind in our stores. Our team didn’t see the incident as it happened, but responded quickly once they heard the victim fall to the floor. They provided first aid to him, confirmed that several guests in the area had called 911 and then waited with the victim until paramedics arrived. Another team member asked the assailant to leave the store, and once he had left, went to watch the security video to confirm what happened. When NYPD arrived, our team showed them the security video of the assault and we’ve since shared a copy of it with the NYPD for their investigation. Our team members acted in accordance with our policy, which is to investigate and share findings with law enforcement rather than apprehend a suspect who is violent. However, we want Target to be a safe and welcoming place for all, and deeply regret that this incident happened in our store.”