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16-Year-Old Walmart Employee Was Arrested After Refusing to Return Her Vest Following Termination — Bodycam Footage Has X Divided
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VetOfTheSeas discuss.online VetOfTheSeas@discuss.online
Joined: 2025-04-27
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The X post showed police detaining a teen at a Walmart after managers asked for her vest back. The video captured officers repeatedly urging the teen to hand over the vest and leave peacefully.

199   Original
Triumph fedia.io Triumph@fedia.io
Joined: 2025-09-19
#2 · Quote Reply

ESH

0
Heydo lemmy.world heydo@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-24
#3 · Quote Reply

ESH

Eat shit homie???

7
Madison420 lemmy.world Madison420@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-02
#4 · Quote Reply

Walmart vests are company property, and refusing to return one after termination can lead to criminal charges.

No they can't, that's civil and theft is almost always strict intent.

70
Drusas fedia.io Drusas@fedia.io
Joined: 2024-08-16
#5 · Quote Reply

ESH

Agreed, but nobody should be arrested for this. Just issue her a fine or something.

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AA5B lemmy.world AA5B@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-09
#6 · Quote Reply

ESH but Walmart sucks a lot more. By all
Means fire him because he quit? But sue him for the $12.99 for the vest. There shouldn’t be criminal charges over something this small, and let them see what it costsnto recover their $12.99

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Maeve kbin.earth Maeve@kbin.earth
Joined: 2024-06-16
#7 · Quote Reply

One commenter who sided with the teen wrote, "To beat up a human being mercilessly for a dirty plastic vest. The cops will never arrest a tax-dodging millionaires but spring into action like Viagra fed hares and jump on a hapless person and try to escalate it into a slaughter." They further called out the original poster for supporting the arrest...

"This is f—— stupid. You take it out of her last check since you still owe her money, it is impossible for her to steal from you," one comment said, "Charge the company with creating a false police report."

Only decent comments in the article.

159
🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 pawb.social Kolanaki@pawb.social
Joined: 2024-10-06
#8 · Quote Reply

Eat shit homie???

Everyone Sucks Here

9
HeyJoe lemmy.world HeyJoe@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-05
#9 · Quote Reply

Yet I see shit all the time where things like someones thousand dollar bike is stolen and they are just told by police to eat dirt because theres nothing they can do.

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tomiant piefed.social tomiant@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-08-13
#10 · Quote Reply

What does Jah think? Where is he, anyway.

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Pieisawesome lemmy.dbzer0.com Pieisawesome@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2025-02-07
#11 · Quote Reply

Is there a mirror for the video?

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DupaCycki lemmy.world DupaCycki@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-08-17
#12 · Quote Reply

What the fuck is a '16-year-old employee'???

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AngryRobot lemmy.world AngryRobot@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-11-08
#13 · Quote Reply

What the fuck is a '16-year-old employee'???

A teenager who was employed by that store? Its pretty self-explanatory.

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Courtney (she/her/they) lemmy.blahaj.zone EggInDisguise@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2026-04-10
#14 · Quote Reply

What the fuck is a '16-year-old employee'???

Child labor that people jump to defend because it somehow normalized.

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BeardededSquidward lemmy.blahaj.zone BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2025-12-04
#15 · Quote Reply

One hand, I have never wanted to keep any of the nasty clothes I had working such shit jobs. But HEAVILY on the other hand fuck the police, ACAB. That thing probably costs the company $1 at most.

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logicslayer lemmy.zip logicslayer@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2024-03-21
#16 · Quote Reply

To protect and serve...the corporations.

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pivot_root lemmy.world pivot_root@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-31
#17 · Quote Reply

Walmart vests are company property, and refusing to return one after termination can lead to criminal charges. No they can't, that's civil and theft is almost always strict intent.

In a world where cops will harass individuals to stop them from being able to serve the owners of a store and shit like section 1201 of the DMCA exists, giant corporations will find a way to inflate a civil issue into a criminal one.

12
BarneyPiccolo lemmy.today BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-30
#18 · Quote Reply

Child labor that people jump to defend because it somehow normalized.

There is nothing wrong with a 16 year old having a job. The problem is that they are only paid minimum wage, by a company owned by three of the Top 10 wealthiest people in America.

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BarneyPiccolo lemmy.today BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-30
#19 · Quote Reply

I didn't read the article, and I don't know anything factual about this situation at all, but I 100% support the kid, and Wal-Mart and the police should give her a million bucks.

Or burn the store down.

33
pdxfed lemmy.world pdxfed@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-08
#20 · Quote Reply

One commenter who sided with the teen wrote, "To beat up a human being mercilessly for a dirty plastic vest. The cops will never arrest a tax-dodging millionaires but spring into action like Viagra fed hares and jump on a hapless person and try to escalate it into a slaughter." They further called out the original poster for supporting the arrest... "This is f—— stupid. You take it out of her l...

Depending on the state the (ex)employee is in, it can be illegal to withhold wages of any reason not prior authorized by the employee. As this was an involuntary termination(firing) the employee likely did not known it was coming. Depending on how she was normally paid it may have required payment at time of termination(depending on state again) so the employer may not have been able to deduct anything from a final check already processed/created.

With that said, everything ever in any company, security and HR basics book ever says you let the person walk with something and if you want to pursue theft charges you do so as a company. Most companies know people who are being fired experience a lot of emotions and it can put them in a state where they may act unpredictably. It may escalate into violence, retaliation by the (ex-employee), cause a scene, etc., none of which are anything approaching "worth it" for a company unless you're talking about trade secrets or the like and not a $1.14 vest. Many employees/humans, when given the chance to take a breath and leave the situation would have returned the vest, but being treated like a caged animal yields predictable results for corporations who sees their employees as such.

Horrifying and unsurprising from Walmart where customers are/were funneled into violence chutes(black Friday) to save $50 on TVs each year with no thought to the bigger picture or safety basics.

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MinnesotaGoddam lemmy.world HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-27
#21 · Quote Reply

Everyone Sucks Here

everybody, suck homies

spoilered for sexual explícitness

Homies kiss homies I imagine there are some homies that might even go so far as to hold hands

2
Virtvirt588 lemmy.world Virtvirt588@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-05
#22 · (edited) Quote Reply

What the fuck is a '16-year-old employee'???

A 16 year old employee. Or simply, an employee.

Discrimination isnt helping no one, the problem is unfair treatment of workers.

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DupaCycki lemmy.world DupaCycki@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-08-17
#23 · Quote Reply

There is nothing wrong with a 16 year old having a job. The problem is that they are only paid minimum wage, by a company owned by three of the Top 10 wealthiest people in America.

If the conditions are good (they are not), then I can agree it's okay.

However, I have another question. Why on earth would a 16-year-old want to work? Maybe some of them are curious and wanted to give it a try. But I'd wager the answer to most cases is that they need money badly.

No family should be in a situation where a child has to help support the household financially, even occasionally.

0
Virtvirt588 lemmy.world Virtvirt588@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-05
#24 · Quote Reply

There is nothing wrong with a 16 year old having a job. The problem is that they are only paid minimum wage, by a company owned by three of the Top 10 wealthiest people in America.

Agreed, a teenager should have the rights to work - that means, along side their studies if they desire. Saying otherwise, is abuse, not the other way around - that's because they are not children but soon to be adults (teenagers), that are expected to have some experience in the world.

Like you said the real problem is the ageism which causes poor pay - discrimination is the key here. This is what we should focus on, solidarity and work conditions of all workers regardless of age.

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x00z lemmy.world x00z@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-07-26
#25 · Quote Reply

Is there a mirror for the video?

https://xcancel.com/omoelerinjare1/status/2064014387883753919

1
x00z lemmy.world x00z@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-07-26
#26 · Quote Reply

Why does the US police always escalate?

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Virtvirt588 lemmy.world Virtvirt588@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-05
#27 · Quote Reply

If the conditions are good (they are not), then I can agree it's okay. However, I have another question. Why on earth would a 16-year-old want to work? Maybe some of them are curious and wanted to give it a try. But I'd wager the answer to most cases is that they need money badly. No family should be in a situation where a child has to help support the household financially, even occasionally.

I'll have to disagree with you - since this is not particularly true everywhere. You're forgetting that teenagers are also people - they have needs and wants. This doesn't necessarily mean they have a whole family to support but maybe themselves, their hobbies, or even other things that dont mean the whole family is in financial trouble.

Self reliance is an important topic within teenage years, and supporting teenagers while they become less financially reliant on parents is important. At the end the objective is to support themselves, and buy whatever the hell they want without judgement.

9
stray pawb.social stray@pawb.social
Joined: 2025-01-13
#28 · Quote Reply

There is nothing wrong with a 16 year old having a job. The problem is that they are only paid minimum wage, by a company owned by three of the Top 10 wealthiest people in America.

They also pay taxes without the right to vote. I'm in favor of kids working because I think occupation is fun and healthy, but labor is married to exploitation in current society.

5
GreenKnight23 lemmy.world GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-09-21
#29 · Quote Reply

I kept all my vests when I quit. I had collected almost all of them.

  • blue
  • maroon
  • white
  • green
  • brown

I worked almost every single department in the store at one point or another.

10
prole lemmy.blahaj.zone prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2024-06-11
#30 · Quote Reply

ESH but Walmart sucks a lot more. By all Means fire him because he quit? But sue him for the $12.99 for the vest. There shouldn’t be criminal charges over something this small, and let them see what it costsnto recover their $12.99

There is no fucking way that those vests cost Walmart more than like $2 each

8
flandish lemmy.world flandish@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-04-08
#31 · Quote Reply

Why does the US police always escalate?

because they exist for the purpose of protecting capital.

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Itdidnttrickledown lemmy.world Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-02-24
#32 · Quote Reply

Why does the US police always escalate?

They are taught nothing else.

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Corkyskog sh.itjust.works Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-12
#33 · Quote Reply

They are taught nothing else.

Yes. They get training from psychopaths who tell them that every citizen is armed and trying to harm them.

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Justin lemmy.dbzer0.com Eric_Pollock@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2023-11-14
#34 · Quote Reply

Walmart vests are company property, and refusing to return one after termination can lead to criminal charges. No they can't, that's civil and theft is almost always strict intent.

I have two of them. I worked for Walmart for about six months when they swapped the dark blue vests for the light blue ones. I initially got one dark blue vest, but they gave me a light blue one, and never asked for either back even after I finished out my two weeks. Why is this only just now a thing?...

5
Notyou sopuli.xyz Notyou@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-06-12
#35 · Quote Reply

Why does the US police always escalate?

They get taught things like Killology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Grossman_(author)

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athatet lemmy.zip athatet@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-09-12
#36 · Quote Reply

I have two of them. I worked for Walmart for about six months when they swapped the dark blue vests for the light blue ones. I initially got one dark blue vest, but they gave me a light blue one, and never asked for either back even after I finished out my two weeks. Why is this only just now a thing?...

Because the teen is a POC.

13
Rubanski discuss.tchncs.de Rubanski@discuss.tchncs.de
Joined: 2025-06-26
#37 · Quote Reply

I kept all my vests when I quit. I had collected almost all of them. blue maroon white green brown I worked almost every single department in the store at one point or another.

Nice, got the shitty 🟫🟥🟩🟦⬜ rainbow collected

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enphurgen lemmy.world enphurgen@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-27
#38 · Quote Reply

Why the fuck are police getting involved over a single vest? Absolutely ridiculous

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thermal_shock lemmy.world thermal_shock@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-30
#39 · Quote Reply

Why does the US police always escalate?

They get to kill with impunity. You miss every shot you don't take, so escalate!

  • Michael scrote
4
whotookkarl lemmy.dbzer0.com whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2025-07-12
#40 · (edited) Quote Reply

Why does the US police always escalate?

Poor quality or no training because there are no training and education standards & no filtering for violent candidates

poor quality or no internal affairs oversight to prosecute unnecessary escalation and police crimes

police unions that abuse the idea of worker unions to protect police from facing charges for committing crimes while wearing a badge

no charges for turning off body cams during arrests or interrogations

immunity laws that privilege police to protect them from facing liability for crimes they commit while on the clock

failure to hold trainers and leaders accountable for the ill prepared and violent individuals they pay to put on the street with a badge who constantly escalate

no licensing to revoke so when a violent criminal is fired they can move a state or county over and get hired into police again

3
Phoenixz lemmy.ca phoenixz@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-06-10
#41 · Quote Reply

I'm divided myself about this...

Let her keep the vest, it's a 5 dollar loss, is it really worth the publicity, the work, the crap that comes with it?

The girl was constantly breaking basic rules, which I also understand isn't a good thing. She's still young, and needs to learn, but we all have rules. This rule "no eating at the cash register" I understand and agree with, I would not like it if a cashier takes my groceries with dirty chocolate hands or something

Then, police over a fucking 5 dollar vest? I'm guessing this is the USA?

Listening how the girl responded I feel like she has some anger management issues, I wonder how her home situation is. Most kids don't respond like she did when being fired.

Then the US police being US police, what can I even say about that that hasn't been said a million times already?

Just overall a lot to say about everyone in this video, I guess my takeaway is that she needs help

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OldChicoAle lemmy.world OldChicoAle@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-10-26
#42 · Quote Reply

I'm divided myself about this... Let her keep the vest, it's a 5 dollar loss, is it really worth the publicity, the work, the crap that comes with it? The girl was constantly breaking basic rules, which I also understand isn't a good thing. She's still young, and needs to learn, but we all have rules. This rule "no eating at the cash register" I understand and agree with, I would not like it if...

It's not about the vest. It's about making sure the people know they are nothing

1
No_Ones_Slick_Like_Gaston lemmy.world No_Ones_Slick_Like_Gaston@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-10
#43 · Quote Reply

I'm divided myself about this... Let her keep the vest, it's a 5 dollar loss, is it really worth the publicity, the work, the crap that comes with it? The girl was constantly breaking basic rules, which I also understand isn't a good thing. She's still young, and needs to learn, but we all have rules. This rule "no eating at the cash register" I understand and agree with, I would not like it if...

MFs won't stop buying in Walmart because of this.

1
orbitz lemmy.ca orbitz@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-06-30
#44 · Quote Reply

Why does the US police always escalate?

I think they get a higher score the more they act like a complete douche and shitrag. Unsure what the score is for but seems to be a safe assumption

2
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