Fast food giant McDonald's is in hot water after a viral video seemed to show an employee forcing teenagers out of a restaurant as they try to hide from a man they believe has a gun.
Farida Osman, Jihan Abdullahi, Amal Mohammed and Zainab Hassan were studying at a library in Minnesota when they decided to pick up some food from the McDonald's down the street.
They paid for their meals using Apple Pay, which some of the girls struggled with as they were unfamiliar with the smartphone app.
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Another customer who seemed frustrated by them holding up the line made a comment that they're "probably using EBT [a card used by US welfare recipients]".
Farida told news website MuslimGirl that her friend Jihan took offence to his remark, and retorted "Just because I'm black doesn't mean I use EBT".
She says the man began verbally abusing the teenagers and acting in an aggressive manner. One of the girls called her male friends over to help them, at which point the altercation escalated out of control.
Video posted to Twitter by Farida shows the group of teens facing off against the older man, who pulls out a weapon as he walks out of the restaurant.
Multiple people can be heard screaming "He has a gun!"
A man in a McDonald's uniform then walks over to the group and tells them to leave. When they protest that the man outside has a gun, a second employee, who is reportedly the store manager, starts to yell at them.
"I understand that!" she screams. "I want everyone out of my store now!"
When the youths try to tell her about the armed man, the employee is unmoved.
"I don't give a f**k - get out of my store now!"
Another customer then tries to convince her to let them stay inside.
"Don't send them out there when the dude has pulled a f**king gun," he says.
"You've got to call the f**king cops is what you've got to do."
The woman continues to order everyone out of the restaurant, ignoring repeated pleas to call the police. She then returns behind the counter.
In a second clip uploaded to Twitter, the male McDonald's employee can be seen talking to the group, seemingly try to justify why the man outside showed them he had a weapon.
"I didn't blame you, I said 'If he pulled out a gun it's for a reason'," he tells the teens. "I didn't say why."
"There should be no reason that a man pulled out a gun on children just trying to order their food," Farida tweeted in response.
Local newspaper The Star Tribune reports that the police were eventually called, but the gun-toting man had left by the time they arrived.
Omar Jamal, head of the Somali Human Rights Commission, told the newspaper he was troubled by the store manager's actions.
"If I were the manager, and you were in there and mentioned the word 'gun', then I have to go out and make sure there is no gun before I kick you out," he said.
Newshub.
