The dangers of shopping while Black got real for one Black woman who was chased out of a Zara store by employees in Lynwood, Washington, over allegations of theft. Video footage of the incident is going viral on TikTok and sparking lots of conversation. Let’s break down what took place.
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Recently released surveillance footage shows the content creator, identified as itsdouniya, running through the mall as Zara employees—dressed in black—chase her from their store, through the food court, and into the parking lot, where they are seen surrounding her vehicle before she ultimately sped off in her SUV. But the incident didn’t end there.
Police bodycam footage shows Zara employees appearing confused after a thorough search revealed the content creator hadn’t stolen any merchandise at all. When officers asked which items she had allegedly taken to her car, one employee insisted, “She literally has it in her arms.” In reality, the items she was holding were hers.
Itsdouniya has since responded to the viral incident on her page with videos, saying, “They did so much math, but it wasn’t adding up,” clarifying that she “stayed on scene and called the real police. Not Zara the gang,” in her captions.
“Can I file charges, or what?” the content creator is heard asking officers in the clip. “I have video of them grabbing me. I recorded them running, chasing me—I told her, ‘This is not Ukraine, you can’t be touching me.’ They were all screaming and laughing like it was a joke. It’s not loss prevention; it was the employees at Zara.”
Folks on social media were floored at the employees’ sheer audacity, and as expected, the reactions came flooding in. Another creator by the name of katiemaymyway feels the employees were blatantly being racist, reckless, and failed to follow any sort of protocol.
“The fact that they took time out of their day to run out of their place of employment to try and physically stop her… is insane,” she said. “I’ve been a store manager, in HR, and loss prevention—you are not supposed to leave that store.”
Creator johnnytsunami spoke on the incident as well, calling out their inability to admit they were wrong, and straight up calling out their privilege to cause harm to others—especially Black folks.
“Yes, white women are human, but white women have a history and a legacy of being able to use their proximity to privilege against other people to cause harm,” he stated, “Looking like the goddamn Zara KKK—keep your foot on their necks,” he added.
While response videos circulating online claim those Zara employees have since been fired, no credible sources have confirmed those claims as of now.
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