One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Black Friday Pepper Sprayer Says She Did It For Her Children, Lawyers Up for Possible Suit Against Walmart, Says She Never Even Got an Xbox
Screenshot (YouTube)
The woman who pepper-sprayed other Walmart shoppers in Porter Ranch angling to get a Black Friday deal on an Xbox has lawyered up for a possible suit against Walmart. Now her lawyer is speaking out and offering up her side of the story: she did it for the children.
Attorney Michael Champ told the Daily News that his client 32-year-old Elizabeth Macias was shopping with her teenage son and daughter on the eve of Black Friday. He says that at one point each of her children had managed to snag an Xbox. That's when a large man punched her son and tried to wrestle the console away from him. Champ told ABC News that her daughter was also being punched and kicked. He says when Macias whipped out the pepper spray and started spraying, that was just her mama bear instincts kicking in.
"(Elizabeth) didn't use the pepper spray to have a competitive shopping advantage," Champ told the Daily News. "She responded as any mother would."
Earlier reports suggested that Macias was a "competitive shopper" angling for an advantage among an unruly crowd at Walmart and that she was able to buy an Xbox before leaving. Champ said these stories aren't true: she only sprayed in self-defense and she left Walmart without an Xbox.
Macias turned herself in that Saturday, but ABC News reports that she refused to answer questions by the police. The DA declined to press charges against Macias. City attorneys are deciding whether or not to file misdemeanor charges.
And now Macias is going on the offensive. Champ told the Daily News and ABC that she is considering filing a suit against Walmart for not providing adequate security. He said she and her children was "traumatized" by the incident.
The same might be said of other shoppers who got sprayed by Macias: "[The victims'] faces were red," shopper John Lopez said. "This one guy was coming up to my wife going, 'Call an ambulance! Call an ambulance!'"
Sponsored message
In case you need a refresher, here's the video from the incident:
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
