A Baltimore boy is going viral this summer for all the wrong reasons. An unidentified white youngster allegedly ran up on a Black woman with a fake gun in a Baltimore-area Walmart, and pandemonium broke out.
A bystander, who goes by Amber Starr online, filmed the scene, telling the boy, “I’m recording for your protection. Somebody call 911.”
The footage was posted to TikTok on August 14 and has since gone viral, amassing more than 4 million views.
The boy showed no fear of the officer detaining him, calling him a “b–ch” and repeatedly shouting, “You’re not a cop. F*ck off, yo.” Commenters online were stunned by his bravado.
‘He Ran into Me’
The woman, who was shopping for her daughter at the time, gave her side of the story in the video as the officer attempted to restrain the boy without the use of excessive force.
“He ran into me with that fake gun of his. See me shaking,” she said to a bystander. “And then he’s calling me n-words and everything else? I don’t think so.” At one point she addressed the boy directly.
“Who are you talking to with that language? You don’t call [the officer] the N-word, number one. Number two, you ran into me. With that,” she said, referring to the alleged fake gun. “You’re lucky you didn’t get hit.”
Under Maryland law, children as young as 12 can be criminally charged. The boy’s age has not been confirmed, and no update on the situation has been made public. Juvenile records remain sealed under state confidentiality laws.
The woman said in the video that she believed the boy needed “guidance.”
Not an Isolated Incident
It turned out this wasn’t his first brush with infamy this summer. A bystander recognized him from a separate viral video.
In late July, he was caught on camera in a heated argument with a Black Dollar Tree employee after being booted from the store, once again allegedly holding a fake gun.
A Black woman, who goes by “myamya3000,” filmed the encounter and asked him what was wrong. He responded: “I’m trying to buy some f–king toothpaste for my f–king sister, ya b–ch.”
@myamya3000 lol who’s kid is this .. #baltimore #baltimorecity ♬ original sound – Mya
Social Media Erupts
Commenters on the Walmart video remained divided. Many, including Starr, expressed sympathy for the boy. She wrote in the caption: “No matter the color, lack of mental health, broken homes, drugs, and this system is the problem, starting with the parents.”
Many other people pointed to a racial double standard in how the boy’s behavior was being discussed. One asked, “Why is it when they’re a white kid, they need mental help, but when they’re a Black kid, they’re a thug?”
Many others took issue with the calls for leniency. As one said, “I see several people commenting that they should just ‘hug him and have a talk with him,’ excusing his behavior because he is ‘struggling,’ yet if this were any other child with a slightly darker skin tone, we would be seeing very different comments.”
