Whole Foods' guard fired for bloody attack on customer who tried to pay with food stamps
A Whole Foods Market in Oakland, California, has fired its armed security guard after the guard violently attacked a customer who was trying to pay with food stamps.
A Whole Foods Market in Oakland, California, has fired its armed security guard after the guard violently attacked a customer who was trying to pay with food stamps.
Zoe Marks, who was visiting the United States from Edinburgh, Scotland, witnessed the entire attack and posted both a description of the attack and disturbing images of the victim.
According to Marks, the whole thing began when the victim tried to pay for food with an EBT card (a food stamp card used like a debit card) at the Whole Foods Market.
“He wasn’t shouting at anyone. He wasn’t violent or disruptive,” Marks said. “There was no threat from him to any of the customers or employees. (We) felt safe until the security guard attacked him.”
According to Marks, the security guard stepped in and threw the victim against some concrete pillars, then put him in a chokehold. The man was left lying on the ground, bloody an unconscious, after the attack.
@HappiestAtheist We’re moving quickly to gather the facts, we want to make it clear that we take a zero tolerance approach to violence…
— Whole Foods Market (@WholeFoods) September 4, 2015
When the images of the victim began to circulate social media and bring people to Whole Foods’ Facebook page demanding accountability, Whole Foods responded.
“We’re moving quickly to gather the facts, we want to make it clear that we take a zero tolerance approach to violence,” company officials said. “The security guard involved in the incident has been permanently removed from all WFM stores. We’re actively investigating the details with our security firm.”
