Portland, Ore (KATU/CNN Newsource) – A customer’s questions about a Confederate flag rug leads to a confrontation with employees at a Portland, Oregon store.
It was an ugly exchange on Heather Franklin’s Facebook Live video after she pointed out a Confederate flag designed rug for sale in the store.
“I would not have confronted with kids with me if I would have known that their reaction was going to be violent like that,” said Franklin. “That was really scary.”
Franklin says those employees followed her into the parking lot. “I was very shocked to be called a b—- by any employee is pretty harsh to be flipped off.”
Store management says the rug never should have made it to the sales floor.
“We do not order these rugs by any particular style we buy 150 to 200 of them at a time they come in every six to eight weeks.”
Store president Andrew Toolson said, “When I came in and saw the video I was upset.”
Toolson said store management is now discussing punishment for the employees in the video. “These are two good employees who’ve been with the company a long time and obviously they handled the situation very poorly. I’d love to talk to her and make it right and let her know that we are not a racist organization, that’s as far from who we are as can be.”
Meanwhile another employee in the store at the time of the incident wasn’t concerned about that rug’s presence.
“Over exaggeration,” the employee said. “It wouldn’t affect anyone. If you’re looking for trouble, you’ll find trouble. It’s history, if you don’t want it you don’t buy it.”
But Franklin felt she had to say something. “There’s absolutely no reason to say that that’s ok to see in a store so for me I wasn’t going to walk out.”
Protesters plan to picket outside the store because of the incident.
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