Actually she got a good deal on closeout pepper spray earlier in the week, and had to find a way to use the excess bottles that she had purchased. I say she did well.

Yep must have had an expiration date.

The Batman wannabe in Seattle had his charges of pepper-spraying people tossed out of court so it must be alright to pepper-spray people at will.

Battery charges? I'd say a psyche eval and investigation into the safety of her kids would be appropriate.

Probably a welfare mommy thats been in and out of jail, if it was a law abiding citizen the book would have been thrown at her, along with about half a dozen charges..

"Battery charges? I'd say a psyche eval and investigation into the safety of her kids would be appropriate."

Absolutely it's battery... take a shot of pepper spray in the face before you suggest they let her off that lightly.

If she punched somebody it would clearly be assault - if you keep hitting, it's battery. pepper spray can require hospitalization for asthmatics and it hurts for 30+ minutes for anybody else.

If being in pain for 30 minutes due to some jackass who was too much of a loser to take their place in line is not battery, what is?

For a "civilized" society those people sure looked and sounded like bunch of wild chimps fighting over a bunch of fresh bananas. This is pathetic to say the least.

OK, here is my question. when the story first broke there were witnesses that said people were cutting in line. she then pepper sprayed them. now the story states she just started pepper sparying the line. which is it?

"now the story states she just started pepper sparying the line. which is it?"

It doesn't matter... either way she criminally assaulted (and battered) a horde of random strangers.

That stuff is for defense only - if you use it to disperse a crowd you need to go to the pokey.

-Sam

Probably a welfare mommy thats been in and out of jail, if it was a law abiding citizen the book would have been thrown at her, along with about half a dozen charges..

So the off duty officer that did the same thing is a "welfare mommy too"? Maybe you should just stop posting until your brain develops.

This is just what to expect from Walmart shoppers you never hear of anything like this at Target.

There was actually a story that an man shopping for decorations in Target collapsed and people were walking around and stepping over him to get to their sale items. FINALLY someone stopped to assist him but he wound up dying at the hospital.

No matter where you go, Walmart, Target, Macy's, or Zales Diamonds, people are people and neither lack their share of animals who will sink to any level to get what they want.

That's the same "store" pictured in the Target article I just read. LOL
That explains why the stories vary so much.

There's that word again. "Police Sgt. Jose Valle told the Associated Press that the woman who allegedly caused minor injuries to 20 shoppers". "The alleged attack took place about 10:20 p.m". Either it happened or it didn't! 20 people sprayed! I would believe it did occure. She turned herself in! I would believe she is the sprayer. If people don't like this post, then I am the alleged author. Enjoy the holiday season and please be kind to one another.

There is no doubt that this woman should be charged with 20 counts of assault and battery. There is absolutely no excuse for what she did. I do not understand why she was released instead of being arraigned and forced to post bail like any other criminal. They certainly have enough evidence to charge her. It is a sad state that people in this country resort to this type of behavior towards each other, especially during the holiday season. The violence seen across the country at various stores is a very sad commentary on the state of our society. The fact that anyone would consider this type of behavior acceptable is unbelievable

I've got some Walmart towels I'd have given her free - what cheap junk.

For a "civilized" society those people sure looked and sounded like bunch of wild chimps fighting over a bunch of fresh bananas. This is pathetic to say the least.

shows just how little we have really evolved, the "plains-dwelling apes" that we evolved from are still very much running our emotions and instincts. all we have really learned is that we can build better "nests" and "mating displays" than anything else.

a few actually learn to control those primal instincts

So the off duty officer that did the same thing is a "welfare mommy too"?

nope, the off-duty officer is just a brainless ape. (see 1.17)

I've heard a couple of different takes on this story. One account reads that it was a grandmother or mother with two smaller children and that she was waiting in line for the XBoxes when a bunch of people started pushing her and her kids trying to get in line in front of her.

If that was the case, I'm not sure that I can completely blame her.

"One account reads that it was a grandmother or mother with two smaller children"

I've not seen that anywhere, and it really should not be an excuse - if anything quite the opposite. If you take small children out for that madness you are demonstrating a total lack of good parenting skills and common sense. Whipping out the pepper spray turns that person from a moron into a felon (due to the battery - and how many were involved).

Simple fact - if you hit any innocent people while "trying to force back the mob" you've assaulted them too. There's no excuse for that in any way as they were just out trying for some deals too - they had no expectation that they were going to run into a complete and total psychopath lady who resorted to spraying the crowd for some random reason or another. I could see her pulling a stun gun on the ONE person who kept elbowing her or something similar - indeed that could be quite justified if he kept doing it and was actually making contact - but pepper spray? No f'ing way.

If this lady was stupid enough to have kids along with her, that is not an excuse for using the spray. She assaulted a crowd... panicking due to people jostling in line is not OK.

I avoid that entire 'shopping experience' due to the fact that although I am a calm peaceful guy; I'm also big and strong - sooner or later somebody shoving and pushing me trying to cut in line would have my foot up their ass for complete and total lack of respect, so it's much better to avoid those rude people altogether. I've seen all types out shopping on those specials - the rabid housewives with enormous purses they swing around them like a weapon (even when just walking), to the people clearly wanting to buy a bunch then resell on E-Bay (those people are bloodthirsty and will cut in line, shove, etc - exactly the type who would get my boot). It's just not worth going out that night any more.

my hero

LOL.

I thought the cop was pepper-spraying vermin who didn't want to pay their debts... According to this article, this woman pepper sprayed random shoppers.

Zero similarity.

Self made,

I think they are protesting the $15 trillion in debt you responsible older folks plan to leave them. It seems that "vermin" like you are the people not paying their debts.....hypocrit much?

Hey MarkC and the other mark,

Up until now I have had no opinion on the "Occupy Protesters", but, after your post's, and others I have read recently, if you are trying to gain support with your overwhelming charm, etiquette and charismatic demeanor, you fail miserably!!!

MRZ,

Having no opinion until you read a blog on reall important subjects regulates you to Palin status or is ignorance and indecision a common trait in your family? You, my friend, fail miserably for not understanding or taking the time to understand things that can have a social impact on your life............I think most call that type of people..... ignoramuses

...something about a Blue Light special on that pepper spray?

Ah, yes all the fools line up early to buy some Chinese made cr@pthat they don't really need. The retailers are basically the ones to blame in all this but not the only ones. The stores put a relatively few items at a very low price to bring in the suckered. Ever notice how they stop the rain check policy on the day before it all starts. They only put a fraction of the sale items on the floor. They have more in the back and once the sale price is over they bring them out at a higher price. The retailers want to create the idea of scarcity so people stop thinking about what they are doing and how much they are spending. They know the trick is to get you IN first and secondly to stop thinking. They have many tricks. Like how milk and other staples are always in the farthest end of the store so you have to walk through the other things. Or how the put 10 items on sale for ten dollars but leave out the fact that you'll still get the dollar a piece price if you buy fewer. Or how Walmart has their own sizes of packages. So that yes it is a cheaper box of say cookies but you actually pay more per cookie than at the other store.

Another reason Walmart has their own sizes of packages is so that they don't have to match a competitor's price on that item--it has to be the exact same item. And yes, all those Black Friday ads full of great deals: All the retailers I tried to shop were sold out of those items; every single item I was interested in. I asked one salesperson how many of the items they'd had in stock, his answer: "Three." Why even bother printing an ad for three items? Total waste of time. And the crowds were ridiculous. Took 20 minutes just to find parking. Why bother? Went back home; didn't spend any money.

Let us then pass a law to prohibit stores from offering bargains on Black Friday. It is for the children's safety, you know. How is Wally World responsible for the riffraff, redneck, greedy people who have no respect for politeness or other people in line ahead of them?

I don't like Wally World but your responce is stupid. Texan One.

I agree Mary. I mean, how dare Walmart, a retailer, actually sell goods to the public? Shameful!

In fairness to Walmart and Target and all the other stores out there, how many Black Friday incidents have been reported? Half a dozen? In a country of over 300 million? While there are some nutcases out there, I imagine most shoppers merely had a busy day and stood in a lot of lines.

I don't even leave the house on Black Friday because of all the idiots that appear out of nowhere.

Hey TexanOne, Let's hear it for the no class, greedy, non corporate ignorant customers of WalMart who caused all the trouble. Maybe WalMart should be suing them for daring to reproduce and bring forth more trash into the world.

Let us then pass a law to prohibit stores from offering bargains on Black Friday. It is for the children's safety, you know. How is Wally World responsible for the riffraff, redneck, greedy people who have no respect for politeness or other people in line ahead of them?

Thats not enough, lets pass a law banning all sales and bargains because of these accidents. Sadly I can see something this stupid being passed in a few years, in name of public safety of course..

Texan, were your parents siblings?

It's not necessary to ban this Black Friday madness, but what should be banned is the bait-and-switch corporate practice of "while supplies last." The "supplies" are usually just one display of a few items. When the junk is gone, that's it, and the corporate retailers know that (never mind the frenzy of grabbing, shoving, pushing, pepper-spraying, etc. for which the business should be held liable since it created that situation) "disappointed" shoppers will pick up a few things, often at higher or full price. The law should require that those who wait in line and miss out on the cheap, communist Chinese made garbage should receive automatic rain-check slips and the retailers should have the obligation to get that trash to the check-holder within one week. Don't outlaw Black Friday insanity - outlaw "while supplies last," and most of the problem will be solved.

Don't be so hard on Texan - he/she has a point.

Stores that advertise drastic bargains on feeding-frenzy days should know something about crowd control. Walmart and others could send some reps to Disney World to learn about it - they invented the science. When there is a big line of campers sleeping outside the store, it makes sense for the store to send reps down the line to pass out tickets for the limited supply of big bargains. After the store opens, they can do it as new people come in the door. Ask them what they want, and give them a ticket for as long as the supply holds up. No need for pushing and shoving and spraying. If the supply is exhausted, the people can go elsewhere to seek something-for-nothing, saving lots of time and frustration. Each shopper knows whether they will be able to get their goodies as they enter the store.

TexanOne...seriously? Walmart liable for that? The real crime here? People can't act civilized in this world to save a $1.00. Think Walmart & other corps are greedy? Clearly this represents where they get it from. Maybe they should practice saving on every day items, year round instead of once a year.

Inbred losers....Obama voters no doubt!!

The "supplies" are usually just one display of a few items.

not necessarily, I saw the ads for Best buy , and they almost all had notations "minimum 5 (or 10) per store, but when I went there in the early evening Friday, they still had half a pallet of most of those "limited items"

I didn't actually buy anything, but I did check it out

How dare they use human greed for a profit!

The stampedes will end when the bargains end. So, do we pass a law that bans sales on merchandise?

Why, Bob? As far as I know, no one held a gun to these shoppers heads and forced them to go to the store.

Sure Barry; further stifle business activity...it's just what our economy needs right now!

Here's a novel idea for those greedy retailers: instead of putting ridiculously low prices on certain things that are virtually guaranteed to start these dangerous stampedes, why don't they lower their prices year round instead of dropping them for just a few days? Christmas, and the Christmas "shopping season" is not what the holiday is supposed to be about...it's become far too commercialized with these "sales", dumb so-called "Christmas specials" on TV about whatever movie is popular, i.e. An Ice Age Christmas, which have zero relation to the holiday and no "tradition" about it...and do you enjoy the avalanche of TV commercials encouraging you to spend every last dime you have on everything from diamonds to video games?

If it weren't for Christian beliefs, I'd say Christmas should be cancelled...

@Bob:

Naw, suspect they will position uniformed guards protecting the sale merchandise instead of the people.

DG, no matter what these corporatist tea baggers say to defend the greedy rich, you're right. These retailers say they "rely" on Christmas shopping insanity, especially Black Friday (so they can end the year in the black) for anywhere from 25 to 40% of their entire sales. That should tell anyone something about how much they overcharge for their garbage. Even at these Black Friday "sale" prices, far below the "norm," they still make money, so they don't have to charge by hundreds-of-percents for their cost of the junk. If they sold it for the same Black Friday prices year round, it would all fly off the shelves constantly and they wouldn't have to worry about only one day and five-week following to make ends meet. Hint to retailers and other corporatists: if you're stuff isn't moving from the shelves, you're charging too much. You can sell it cheaper and make some (but still more than enough) money, or make nothing at all.

Done right it is a value, done the way we are doing it makes it worthless. Without wealth redistribution a tenent of capitalism it dies. The capitalist idea is money is always flowing from the bottome up then back down. Capitalists feed the beast by investments which produce jobs whinch then make people rich who then reinvest in it creating more revenue that builds places for people to work etc etc etc. You cannot repeat cannot buy your goods from third world countries, put you people out of work that are fedding the beast and expect to see it last. We are on the downward trend right now and the slope is gettin slipperier every day. This so called black friday fiasco is an example of the herding instinct the super rich have over their subject. They own the courts they own the house they own enough of the Senate to stop meaningful legislation and they own all of us. The man in the WH? He will be next to go replaced by some brainless lackey who will also do their bidding. Ya see now they can spend as much as they want to to take over our highest office. The Supreme court gave them that right. Next stop we become just another third world country because after they defeat the poor eveyone not on their a list becomes a target.

And out come the soapboxes!.. This has everything to do rude, just average greedy people, nothing to do with "capitalism", the rich, the Courts, blah, blah, blah.

Exactly how is "capitalism" at fault in any way in this incident? It's the sociopath who thought pepperspraying other persons so she could get what she wanted at any cost who is to blame...no one else.

Exactly J R....

JR, we don't have capitalism today. We have corporatism and greed. Some woman getting "what she wanted at any cost" is how it works today, and unfortunately it is primarily done by the corporatist CEO's, directors and shareholders at the top. She didn't do anything different than what the CEO of Walmart or any other corporation does. They now will always get what they want at any cost.

"Corporatism" or "Capitalism" .....neither of which is responsible for this woman's actions. She and she alone owns her cruel tirade. This "blame game" crap is getting out of hand, very old and ridiculous.

Most people do not read before they respond to an article or post. If you took the time to read my original post you would find I did not blame capitalism for this incident. In fact if capitalism was at work here this may not have happened. I blame the people who are silently running this country and playing us for fools. I do not disagree that this woman was wrong for what she did but a lot of times in order to persue a remedy for a situation you have to look at why it happened in the first place. This blan friday BS has gone way too far. Last Year or year before last a person was killed after he fell in the front of the stampede to get a sale item and was trampled to death. This year we had this incedent a shootout and a man laying on the floor while other ran for the sale items and ignored him. My line is we have to do something and realizing the causes of all this is the right thing to do.

With what? Entertainment funds are so far down the list for most Americans it does not exist.

Well said, Peter Foss! The holidays are about friends and family, not about presents. In our family we exchange gifts to organizations such as Heifer Foundation and the local food bank in a family member's name. This year my husband and I are starting a new tradition with our nephew & his closest friend, both of whom are avid cooks. The four of us will be getting together at a B&B for a cooking lesson weekend. We think quality time and well thought out presents are so much better than a lot of junk.

Few years back we were laughing at the Russians standing in line for hours to get a roll of toilet paper. What goes around.....

agree 100%

my question is, what's a fist-fit?

And where do you imagine your clothing, appliances, etc come from, half-wit?

She should claim the same as the UC cops. She was surrounded with no escape. Hey, they claim it.

@rorn, i have tried to type several different polite responces to your post but i just can't do it. YOU ARE AN F-ING IDIOT.

No, "What", Rorn is correct. When you can just casually walk down a string of people leisurely pepper spraying them it's not exactly an emergency situation. I didn't see any emberginecy, what I saw was some P-Oed cop talking it out on the kids. Kids wo wer just SITTING there. No one made any threatening moves excpet the police.

Beam me up Scotty.

GeezString - forget to take you meds today? I haven't heard a rant as irrational as yours is in ages.

I understand now how Corporations and those in higher offices look down upon all of society as they present their case the general population is " ... worthless, undeducated, uncaring, lazy, and will kill each other to grab a quarter cemented into a sidewalk - they are idiots... " as they ( the ones in higher offices... ) have created such mass hysteria - all while they sit back, laughing at the masses and count their stacks of cash.

Congratulation masses.. you have proven your intelligences.

Quit being controlled by the corporations.. quit shopping their worthless goods.. think for yourselves... force them to stop the idiotic "get your coupons" and "here's your sale" controlling methods and bring the entire country back down to a more stable ( and less frenzied ... ) means of existence - lower prices - where 'coupons' and 'sales' are unnecessary.

Stop buying into their stupid game of causing you to simply hand over your earned money... to make them richer ( those who never had to sweat at working their entire lives... ).

Show respect to your fellow citizens... stand up and fight the retailers, large chains and big corporations - not one another.

If you don't have a brain, please - seek an operation to obtain one. If you have a brain.. please begin to at least TRY to use it for once in your life.

KILL BLACK FRIDAY at all store chains.

GeezString - Just how long was your mom on Thalidimides?

You sure are BRILLIANT! I can't wait for 100 years to pass for your predictions to come true. I will wait 1 year until next black Friday 2012 and I bet all of your predictions will come true. Besides it's the end of to world in December of that year and you my friend will become a GOD. Now let me smoke a cigarette and bow to your greatness. OOPS i have to go to the bathroom instead, oh yes - their you are let me flush it down the drain. Well - good bye my friend, it was nice knowing you as you circle around the bowl. what a WASTE.

Geezstring, you are truly not playing with a full deck! In fact you are about 51 cards shy of a full deck.

A sad commentary on what the military produces.

Cowboy - one expects worse when in the military. These were ordinary civilians who were out shopping for the day. No one expects to get pepper sprayed while at a mall or Walmart shopping. You would have a different attitude if it were your wife or kids who were sprayed for the mere act of shopping for Christmas gifts.

Actually John, its a sad commentary on what the enemy throws at us in the military.

Nice trolling, Urban. You are just stirring the pot. Tell everyone who got sprayed...including the kids...that it was no big deal and see how far you get. Oh, and let's try to focus on how this was a civilian group in a department store where they felt safe enough to bring their kids (although I would never bring a child to Black Friday personally) and had a reasonable expectation of not being pepper sprayed. Bet you were great at protecting civilians...oh, a little tear gas? A few bombs? Stop whining, people. You must be fun to live with, too. Nice.

She whouldn't have put herself and her children in that situation to begin with. She should have known what she would be faced with. And I agree, she should be forced to endure the same thing she did to those innocent people who did nothing wrong. Then she should be sued by all the victims. Some people never learn. Walmart should be sued as well for allowing the overcrowding.

Another stupid comment on the subject Cowboy.

well, i don't think that the victims were totally defenseless.

i would have rushed to the sporting goods section to grab a base ball bat and use it on her.

but slapping her on the side of her head with a family size frozen lasagne or a ten pound bag of chicken thighs would have also been justified.

I also got crap thrown at me in the military during training and deployments as well but it's not like I would invite it while going about my business in anytown USA. I'm also a martial artist and have bruises up and down my body at any given time but I don't invite strangers or anyone else to pick a fight with me neither. It's not about sucking it up but it's about being able to go about your day without being inexcusably accosted. Nobody, no matter who you are or where you've been, deserves that. Not even the nutty black Friday shoppers.

.

I agree. All the advertisements in the days prior to Black Friday have an urgency to them with terms like "doorbusters" and "limited time only". The hours that the sales are taking place are placed in huge fonts at the top of the ads which whip people into a frenzy that if they DON"T get there and shop NOW that will be it and they will lose out on the best deals they will ever see in their lifetimes. And of course they only stock a VERY limited amount of the promoted products because really, do you think they really want to sell more than 100 X-Box's for only $199? It's a trick to get people to believe that they will all get the most unbelievable deals only if they come during the limited time sale! Of course the promotions are gone within minutes and all the people who had been waiting for hours aren't going to go home empty handed and will resign to buying other products at full price anyway.

A few isolated incidents, I bet there were more people acting responsibly than not. However, you're not going to hear about that, not newsworthy don't you know. These people made their choices and if all it takes (dinkers77) is a few words and huge fonts to influence them; pathetic!

Or off-duty Walmart cops.

In the case of Havana it is the United States of America that keeps Americans from supplying bread, cabbages and grain to Cuba. We have something that is actually made in America and are kept from selling it by our own government.

Cornmeal - what you say is a [small] fraction of the problem. The remainder of the problem is Fidel Castro's doing since early 1959. In the study of failures or events, there are two factors or causes leading to the problem: ultimate cause and proximal cause. The ultimate failure of Havana is Castro's; the proximal cause is the United States. Consider the hypothetical blue-backed muggalunk lizard of Borneo. The ultimate cause of extinction is loss of habitat due to slash-and-burn farming methods by locals. When a Swedish tourist accidentally steps on the last blue-back muggalunk lizard, the tourist has caused the species to go extinct, but only proximally. The US involvement (or lack thereof) in Cuba is proximal to Havana's failure. A Swede did not cause the muggalunk to go extinct.

Actually I've been to Havana. People line up nicely and politely for what there is. Americans are pigs.

Spoken like a true Arkansan. Polliteness comes first. I wish it was still that way here in Bentenville. Home of Wally World. But Sam was a good guy. The company is now crap.

You must be a big fat a22hole

After watching people yell 'let 'em die', the idea that Tea Party Nation would be involved would come as no surprise.

Liberals have no problem killing off people to save the planet.

And the neo-cons have no problem killing off the planet so the 1% can make a few more dollars.

So why does politics have to do with an idiot spraying pepper spray on other people. Got to be a @!$%#ing @!$%#, ah yes it was. hope the people she sprayed has the same opportunity. Democrats, a fine bunch of coconut heads.