A woman shared a video showing an incident that happened while she was browsing CDs at a Barnes & Noble in Altamonte Springs, Florida. In the video’s caption, she says a store employee followed her around the store and called for “backup,” after which a manager accused her of hiding CDs in her bag.
The woman, who posts under the username @jerlieyha and goes by “hendrix” on TikTok, has 1,203 followers and 663 following on the platform. Her videos have received a combined 149.6K likes. Her bio reads “not for fun.”
“lady followed me around the store and called for ‘backup.’ one of the managers came up to me and stated ‘we see you slipping cds in your bag.’ so i opened my bag and what was inside? absolutely nothing,” she wrote in the caption.
Woman says she was singled out despite others being nearby
In the video, the woman said a staff member had been watching her while she browsed the CDs for about 20 minutes. She said the employee then walked over and accused her of putting something in her bag, despite there being other shoppers nearby, including a group of people who also had bags with them.
“There’s nothing, no, because I’ve just been racially profiled and I don’t appreciate that,” she said in the video. TikToker users shared their experiences about feeling racially discriminated in other public places, too, as two Michigan women were ousted from a restaurant.
A staff member responded by saying the CDs would be held for her if she chose to check out, and that she was not required to leave them behind. The woman said she did not want to purchase the CDs anymore and asked to speak to a manager.
“Do you guys have a manager? Like, you guys have to understand how that feels,” she said. The woman explained that she had been waiting in the store for her girlfriend to arrive and denied putting anything in her bag. She said that if she had wanted to take something, she would have already done so during the time she was browsing.
“I’m so sorry, I don’t have a reason to put anything in my bag. I was browsing for like, what, 20 minutes? I would have took something, I would have already took it, right?” she said.
A staff member apologized for making her feel uncomfortable but maintained that the CDs would be held only if she planned to purchase them. The woman said she no longer wanted to buy anything from the store because of how the situation was handled.
Staff told her she was free to continue browsing the store, but she declined, saying the experience had left her too uncomfortable to continue shopping. She again pointed out that a group of teenagers had also been in the same area with bags, but said she was the one who was watched and approached.
“You have to understand how that feels, but you guys won’t,” she said. A staff member apologized again, saying they were sorry if she felt she had been accused of stealing, but did not confirm or deny that this had happened.
The woman said being followed and confronted in that way was unacceptable. Similar concerns have come up in other cases, including a New Mexico nail salon customer’s racism claims.
“For you to go over there and follow me, that’s crazy. You wouldn’t like that either,” she said. She added that she had not raised her voice or acted aggressively toward staff before being confronted, and said she still felt she had been treated unfairly.
“I wasn’t being aggressive. I didn’t say anything to her, and I was still profiled. I do not appreciate that at all,” she said.
A staff member responded by saying that people carrying bags into the store are generally watched more closely, noting that many shoppers who come through the mall carry bags with them.
“We just look for people with bags. That’s what major thing – everybody comes through the mall with the bag,” the staff member said.
The video ends with the staff member acknowledging that the situation was difficult, without further explanation. Viewers responded to the video with a mix of sympathy, frustration, and accounts of similar situations. Several commenters said they shop at the same store regularly and had never experienced anything similar.
One commenter, who said they shop at the same store and often carries a large bag, wrote: “This was def profiling and I’m so so sorry that happened to you. Definitely report it to corporate!”
Another commenter questioned the store’s justification for the incident, writing: “‘We have a lot of theft’ wth does that have to do with you I’m heated.”
A commenter who said they previously worked in retail described their own experience with how staff were instructed to monitor customers: “Girl I worked a retail store for a very short period of time but the s**t they would tell me to do over that earpiece, and how they would pick a group of people for me to follow, and conveniently all black n I would ignore their a– cause I ain’t following nobody …”
One commenter, who said they have shopped at the Criterion Collection section of the store many times, disputed the staff’s explanation that she was free to keep shopping: “FYI. them saying they will hold them for her so she can keep shopping is 100% wrong. ive never ever had that happen to me as someone who has shopped the criterion collection many times. this is racisl profiling. that white woman should be fired.”
Another commenter argued that staff lacked the authority to act the way they did: “A manager has no legal authority to make you open your bag. And a hunch or a guess is not enough evidence to detain someone. Neither of them appear to be security guards and the argument that they have a lot of theft for the store doesn’t negate that they unfairly targeted you and acted outside of the scope of corporate policy. I would absolutely send an email.”
A commenter suggested she escalate the matter through official channels, writing: “Report it the location’s DM (district manager) & request the footage. For a manger to racial profile you, then proceed to say you are allowed to keep shopping and you can leave the cds well doing so is giving micro aggression. Then for another manager to back it up & both not give a genuine algology is wild. They don’t wanna look at the footage and they don’t want to acknowledge it, because that requires them taking accountability for racial profiling.”
Another commenter shared that they had shopped at Barnes & Noble many times without a similar experience: “She was absolutely profiling you. My translucent white a– has been in Barnes & Noble’s a million times just to browse and don’t even buy anything and I’ve NEVER once had this happen. That is blatant racism 1000%.”
Published: Aug 17, 2026 08:09 am