Screenshot/YouTube – “MAMA AFRICAH MUSLIMAH”
July 15, 2021, 7:11 am
A Black woman who was harassed and chased through Victoria’s Secret by a white customer has raised over $100,000 through a GoFundMe, as she seeks justice over the incident.
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Ijeoma Ukenta posted a series of videos to TikTok and YouTube earlier this month showing a white woman having an absolute breakdown after Ukenta started recording her—something Ukenta says she did because the woman lunged at her and then started playing the victim.
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The conflict between the two started when both women were shopping at Victoria’s Secret in The Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey. According to Ukenta’s account, the white customer got too close to her and she asked her to keep some space between them as we are still in a pandemic.
Things quickly escalated, and Ukenta’s first video begins with the other woman appearing to either try to hit or try to hit the phone out of her hand as she started recording. From there, the woman got increasingly more and more hysteric as she begged not to be recorded, screaming that Ukenta was threatening her, and ultimately chased her through the store and called the police.
Ukenta says she kept recording for her own safety, as the white woman kept making accusations against her Ukenta was concerned the police would believe without video proof to the contrary.
But when the police showed up, Ukenta was underwhelmed by how they handled the situation. She was also unhappy with the police report, which she showed off in one video and called it “mostly true.”
“Of course, they took the [white woman’s] statement first because she called the police,” she said. “And she completely lied.”
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The police have thus far declined to bring charges and said at the scene that “they had no indication that an arrestable offense or crime had been committed,” according to their statement.
“Pending further review, the Millburn Police Department believes our officers acted professionally and capably in defusing the situation and restoring calm and order,” the department said.
Ukenta disagrees and eventually made a verbal complaint against the responding officers.
Her GoFundMe says she aims to hire an attorney “who can help me bring light to this wrong,” appearing to refer to the initial incident, her interactions with mall security, as well as her interactions with police.
While Ukenta initially sought to raise $20,000, she has already blasted past $100,000 in just a couple of days.
*First Published: July 15, 2021, 7:11 am
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