A boy on a holiday shopping excursion with his parents was reportedly caught spitting over a third-floor balcony onto unsuspecting mallgoers.
In a December 7 Instagram post, shopper Kesean White said he narrowly avoided being doused as he browsed the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, this past weekend.
“As I’m walking, I see it comes down right in front of me [and] I look up and see it again,” recounted a horrified White, who was on the ground level when he first noticed. “I yelled at bro, ‘Don’t do that, that is nasty!’”
Most children have pulled off a harmless prank or two, but spitting on strangers is one chaotic step too far. White saw the chance to teach the kid some basic manners and dashed up the escalators to confront the offender, according to a video he posted on Instagram.
The shocked expression on the mother’s face showed he had also taught a lesson to the parents: that a silly prank can go disastrously awry, and that spitting on the wrong person can lead to serious consequences.
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Under Minnesota law, intentionally spitting on someone could result in charges of disorderly conduct or, in some cases, a misdemeanor assault — even if the offender is a minor. White didn’t pursue any charges, but instead posted to social media, where the court of public opinion is weighing in.
According to the Dec. 7 video, when the boy saw White making a beeline toward him, he sheepishly responded ‘My bad.”
“Hey, bro, ain’t no ‘my bad.’ That’s trifling. You do not do no sh*t like that, bro,” White admonished. “That’s nasty as hell! That spit literally dropped right in front of my face.”
Soon, the parents arrived with shopping bags and seemed somewhat unbothered by the situation, until White went on to explain the thin line between a gross prank and a life-altering mistake.
“That’s just unacceptable,” he told the parents. “If that spit would have hit me, I would have probably gone to jail tonight.”
Suddenly, he had the parents’ attention. “The mom’s face when he told [he] would of went to jail! Priceless!” wrote a commenter. However, others felt the message wasn’t getting through, despite the mother’s apology: “His parents were too calm for me,” followed by comments that the “lil dude got zero home training.”
At least a few commenters knew that “it’s a crime to spit on someone in Minnesota,” while others wondered what would have happened if roles were reversed.
“Imagine a Blk kid spitting over a banister and whyte man was in your shoes… cops & handcuffs would have been involved,” wrote another. “Great job on how you handled this matter.”
