A Starbucks employee working at a Target store in Indianapolis has been fired after posting a video on TikTok showing how to make a "Blue Lives Matter" drink made up of "bleach" and "a little blood of innocent Black men."
The video has since been pulled from TikTok but a Twitter user managed to record it on post it on the micro-blogging platform.
'All I Want for Christmas is More Dead Cops'
In the clip, the employee can be seen preparing a special "Blue Lives Matter" beverage – a reference to the countermovement that supports members of law enforcement. The TikTok user puts together all of the ingredients, which include bleach, ice, and "blood of innocent Black men," into a cup sitting on a counter top.
The barista then adds "a special blue ingredient that Starbucks has" and blends it with some more bleach in a pitcher before pouring the blue liquid into the cup, ready to be served. In the background, a song titled, "All I want for Christmas is more dead cops" can be heard playing. Watch the video below:
The video sparked outrage on social media with users urging Target to fire the employee. Employees who work in Starbucks locations inside Target stores are employed directly by Target.
"This man needs to be fired and charged with attempted murder," wrote one user, while another commented, "This is so not acceptable. I have family members that are police officers. This person should be fired!"
Target, Starbucks Issue Statement Over Barista's Firing
Shortly after the video went viral, a Target spokesperson released a statement saying that the employee had been fired and that the drink did not actually include bleach and only a mixture of milk and water was used instead.
However, a separate user claiming to be a barista pointed out that the special blue ingredient the employee used in the drink was Urnex – a toxic cleaning agent for coffee urns and equipment.
"This video is appalling and unacceptable," Target said in its statement. "We don't tolerate this behavior at Target, want all guests to be treated with respect and have terminated the team member who was responsible. We also have rigorous food safety procedures in place, which this team member egregiously violated with this behavior. We're deeply sorry for this disturbing video, which TikTok has removed based on the platform's guidelines."
Starbucks also issued the following statement: "We have zero tolerance for any violence and we are thankful that Target terminated this employee immediately for this appalling act."
