Alex Beckom Starbucks Barista from Santee, California keeps her cool as Donald Trump supporter aka San Diego Karen screams F*** Black Lives Matter.
A Black Starbucks barista has been lauded after keeping her calm & composure after a Donald Trump supporter was caught on video swearing and shouting ‘f*** Black Lives Matter! ‘ upon the Starbucks employee asking her to wear a face mask inside the store amid the ongoing coronavirus.
Footage taken by another customer shows the woman getting into a heated discussion with barista, Alex Beckom, 19, who politely asked her to wear the protection correctly while inside the café in Santee, California.
Alex told the woman: ‘Okay that’s fine with me but next time when you come in I’m going to need you to keep your mask on.’
The customer, since dubbed San Diego Karen & Starbucks Karen claimed the barista was ‘discriminating’ against her for being a Trump supporter as she was wearing a Trump 2020 mask.
She told the barista: ‘I’m not going to listen to anything you say to me when you talk to me like that and I know it’s because you’re discriminating against me because I’m a Trump supporter.’
Today’s Karen from San Diego said “F*ck #BlackLivesMatter “ simply because she was told to wear her mask properly.@Starbucks give this barista a raise for the way she handled the situation!
Twitter do your thing pic.twitter.com/BovCaOraZD
— Natasha (@ndelriego) October 19, 2020
‘No, no it’s not a law and I can show you the penal code and everything, it’s a hoax.’
The composed barista once again told the un-identified Trump supporter that she should just put her face mask on properly when she comes in the store next time.
In turn, the clearly emotional customer responded by saying ‘F**k black lives matter’ before asking the employee for a straw and some sugar for her drink.
Un-perturbed and keeping her cool, the barista once again implored the customer: ‘And again next time you come in I’m going to need you to keep your mask on or else I can’t help you.’
Only for the female white customer to retort, ‘No, no it’s not a law and I can show you the penal code and everything, it’s a hoax.’
As the customer left the store, she could be heard shouting on the video: ‘I don’t have to wear a mask, I’m not going to wear a mask. This is America and I don’t have to do what you say. Trump 2020!’
As Alex demanded the customer leave the store, the customer proceeded to verbally attack the employee.
She added: ‘No, f**k you. F***k black lives matter.’
‘This Starbucks employee just posted a video of me at a Starbucks on TikTok calling me racist’
The video, which was uploaded to TikTok and reposted to Twitter has since gained more than 3.4 million views.
In a second video, the Starbucks employee claimed the customer filed a police report against the employee in response to the viral video.
She allegedly wrote in her Instagram story: ‘This Starbucks employee just posted a video of me at a Starbucks on TikTok calling me racist again and I’ve already filed a police report for libel/defamation 639-653.2 – more money for me I’m suing!
‘And she’s going to lose her job! What an idiot. I’m showing up at her work with the police tomorrow.’
The Instagram account has since been removed.
Explained Beckom via NBC 7, ‘I think it’s important to show this type of behavior shouldn’t be normalized and shouldn’t be acceptable … As this behavior continues, the cycle continues, and we need to get this cycle to stop.’
Wearing a mask is not political but more of an act of respect for others
Adding, ‘I’m Black in America so I’ve dealt with these kinds of situations before. I’m able to stay calm and collected in these kinds of situations because I don’t want to risk my job.’
Beckom hopes people can learn from this experience, that wearing a mask is not political but more of an act of respect for others.
Starbucks have since released a statement saying, ‘We expect our partners and customers alike to foster a welcoming Third Place environment, and this behavior is not welcome in our stores.
‘Our focus right now is providing support to our partner who demonstrated tremendous composure during a very difficult interaction.’
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Beckom with her college education and to help her co-workers at Starbucks. As of Tuesday afternoon, $9,199 raised of a $250 goal had been raised.
