Rant Against Black Workers at Michaels Caught on Tape

An irate customer in a Chicago Michaels store created what NBC Chicago calls a "30-minute ordeal" that has since gone viral. Another customer, Jessie Grady, caught part of the incident on her phone, showing the white customer berating two black employees for what she says was an attempt to strong-arm her into buying a reusable shopping bag and for discriminating against her. She also claims one of the employees accused her under her breath of voting for Donald Trump (a claim the employee can be heard denying in the video). "And I voted for Trump, so there," the customer yells in the video. "What? You want to kick me out because of that? And look who won." She also calls the employee a "liar" and another one "an animal," and her diatribe also covered Grady and her family.

Grady was so incensed at what she says was this "unprovoked attack" that she created a GoFundMe page for the worker who took the brunt of the customer's wrath (nearly $30,000 has been raised so far). "I'd like to show her that many people are horrified by how this woman treated her," Grady writes. In a statement, Michaels said it doesn't "tolerate discrimination or racism of any kind" and was "grateful for the leadership of our store team." In a Monday tweet, it also expressed thanks for the "outpouring of support for our Chicago-based team member." The customer in the video left before cops arrived. (More Chicago stories.)