She seemed like the quintessential spoiled brat, tossing groceries, stomping her feet and ignoring adults who tried to quiet her.
Amber Gregory witnessed it firsthand. She can be seen on the video admonishing anyone who attempted to restrain or quiet the little girl in the pink dress. Some mistook her for the girl’s mother. Others criticized her for seemingly pardoning the behavior.
Turns out Gregory knew something her critics didn’t. She told TMZ the girl is a nonverbal, neurodivergent child who was scared about being left alone in the store.
The girl couldn’t speak, say her name, or communicate her distress, Gregory said. She needed help and most adults responded by whipping out their cellphones to record the incident.
As a parent of a neurodivergent child, Gregory knows of what she speaks. She lamented those who said the girl needed a beating as punishment, saying they don’t know what they’re talking about.
“Couldn’t imagine the punishment I would’ve received for this,” remarked one man on “X”. “Some of y’all don’t need to have children and it shows. I hope they charged them for every last penny. At some point in time, someone in that family has to learn something.”
“This is what happens when you vilify parents for punishing their kids!” said another.
Gregory said that the incident played out for 45 minutes to an hour. The video doesn’t show the girl trying to hurt herself with the broken glass from the bottles she broke. A parent of the child eventually surfaced but was forced to run away from all the people recording on their cellphones.
Few of those customers tried to help the child. Employees didn’t offer much help, either. One woman in a Walmart blue vest tells her co-workers, “Don’t touch her!” as she backs away.
Police were contacted, Gregory said, but it’s unclear if an incident report was filed.
