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A mother involved in a vicious fight in a Walmart store – which was caught on video – has come forward to tell her side of the story after the two-part clip went viral, racking up almost two million views in just four days.
Amber Stephenson called her local radio station – the Smiley Morning Show on WZPL – to reveal what caused the shocking brawl at the Beech Grove store in Indiana.
Ms Stephenson said she was walking by the woman she would later fight, with her six-year-old son, when she heard the woman call an employee “the n-word.”
She said: “She [the woman] was sitting there yelling at an employee, at Walmart, and she was telling her that she was a n****r and that she was going to get out of the chair and whoop her ass.
“She used the ‘n-word’ so, in my defence, I was standing up for the employee,” Ms Stephenson explained.
In the video, words between the two quickly turn physical as the woman steps off her motorised scooter to quickly begin knocking Ms Stephenson up a shampoo aisle.
At one point, while Ms Stephenson holds down the other woman, she shouts at her son: “Johnny, punch her in the f***ing face.” The boy then kicks the woman in the head several; times before throwing shampoo bottles at her.
When one bystander tells him to stop, he swaggers towards her – arms outstretched – and warns that she can’t tell him what to do.
After the fight, Ms Stephenson said police laughed about the video, adding: “The guy with the video was showing the video to the cops and they were all standing around laughing about it.
Explaining how her son takes martial arts classes, she added: “He’s been going to the gym for several years with his father. I mean, he’s been in the gym for a long time.
“He got a little crazy. I don’t have to worry about him ever being bullied.”
Spectators can be heard in the background of the clips debating as to whether to step in to break the brawl up, although no-one does.
Walmart released a statement saying both women were banned from the store: “This type of behavior inside one of our stores is completely unacceptable and we are notifying the individuals involved that they are no longer welcome on Walmart property.
“Once we were aware of this situation, a member of our management immediately called the police and we are continuing to work with them on this matter.”
A Walmart spokesman also added that company policy prohibits employees from intervening in a violent situation.
The store does have security officers, but they were just coming on duty as the fight was happening.
WARNING: Some viewers may find the following videos disturbing:
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