Video footage of a "Karen" having a mental breakdown after allegedly assaulting a black woman at a Victoria's Secret outlet in New Jersey is being widely circulated on social media.
In eight-part video series shared on YouTube, Ijeoma Ukenta said she went to the Victoria's Secret store because she had a coupon for a free panty but she was assaulted and harassed by a "Karen" at the Short Hills Mall, and neither mall security nor the police did anything about it.
'Don't Record Me'
TikTok videos of the incident show the woman, who is white, appearing to attack Ukenta, who is of Nigerian origin, before holding her face in her hands and breaking down.
"She just tried to run and hit me," Ukenta says behind the camera.
"I didn't try to hit you. Please don't record me," the woman says as she continues sobbing while crouched on the floor. The woman then claims Ukenta is threatening her before repeatedly asking her to stop recording her "mental breakdown."
At one point in the video, the woman appears to faint and falls to the floor in a staggered manner.
'Get Her Away From Me'
In the second clip, the woman urges the store's employees to take Ukenta's phone away from her. "Get away from me," the woman screams at the top of her lungs as she chases Ukenta around the store.
The woman then calls 911 and reports that Ukenta is "threatening" her.
In the other videos posted on Ukenta's YouTube channel, she documents her interaction with mall security and police officers, who she says refused to escort the woman out of the store.
Social Media Reactions
The videos have garnered more than 2 million views, thousands of retweets and several hundred comments from users who sided with the black woman. Here are some of the reactions:
Who is Abigail Elphick?
In a follow-up video, Ukenta provides an update from the police station and shares the police report on the incident, which identifies the white woman as Abigail Elphick, a teacher's aide at a high school in New Jersey.
According to Ukenta, Elphick later acknowledged in the police report that she was wrong and was afraid about losing her job and her apartment if the video went viral on social media.
Ukenta's GoFundMe Page
Ukenta has now set up a GoFundMe page as she plans on taking legal action over the incident. The page has already amassed more than $25,000 in donations.
"I am a Black Muslimah Nigerian AM and I was treated like it was 1920 in Short Hills Mall. I was assaulted and harassed by a white woman and and nothing was done by security nor the police. I'm looking to hire me an excellent attorney who can help me bring light to this wrong," she wrote in the description.
