Sandy MaloneIndianapolis, IN – A Starbucks barista posted a video to TikTok on Sunday calling for “more dead cops” that showed him behind the counter preparing a special poisonous “Blue Lives Matter” drink recipe that called for more than a cup of bleach.
The Police Tribune reviewed the video, which has since been deleted from TikTok, that showed a Starbucks cup sitting on the counter with the words “Blue Lives Matter” written on the side of it.
The caption on the video read “All I want for Christmas is more dead cops.”
The barista, who could not be seen in the video, narrated the video with his special recipe for the beverage he concocted for police supporters.
The barista was identified as a TikTok user named Van Greyson Hart who worked in a Starbucks inside a Target store in Indianapolis.
“Hi guys, I updated my recipe for the Blue Lives Matter drinks,” the video began.
“First we’re gonna start with bleach,” the barista said as he poured more than a cup of bleach into the cup in the video. “All the way to the third line.”
“Then we’re gonna add ice because, you know, cops love ice,” he continued.
Then the video showed the barista put together another concoction in a blender that included blue coloring used for special Starbucks drinks.
“… We add more bleach, a little blood of innocent black men,” the barista said, dumping an unidentified red goopy substance into the blender.
“And then we add this special blue ingredient that Starbucks has,” he said. “We do have it and yes, we are holding out on you.”
The video showed the barista blended the allegedly poisonous contents together and then poured the blue liquid over the ice and bleach already in the glass.
“Pour that right on top,” he instructed those watching. “Ahh, that beautiful blue color.
The barista set a straw on top of the finished drink sitting on the counter, the video showed.
“And even though it has a straw-less lid, we’re going to serve it with a straw because, ya know, they only think about themselves,” he finished the instructional video.
Employees who work in Starbucks locations inside Target stores are employed directly by Target, Starbucks spokesman Reggie Borges told The Police Tribune.
Starbucks confirmed it was aware of the video and said the company “condemned the video and any behavior that threatens violence against others.”
The Police Tribune reached out to Target for comment and the company released a statement shortly thereafter.
“This video is appalling and unacceptable,” the statement read. “We don’t tolerate this behavior at Target, want all guests to be treated with respect and are terminating the team member who is responsible. We also have rigorous food safety procedures in place, which this team member egregiously violated with this behavior. We’re deeply sorry for this disturbing video, which TikTok has removed based on the platform’s guidelines.”
Target spokeswoman Jenna Reck told The Police Tribune that after talking to the employee, they did not believe the drink had actually been served to a guest.
Reck also said Target did not think actual bleach was used in the making of the drink, but rather a combination of milk and water.
You can see the video below:
@Starbucks Is this acceptable to be poisoning people or even joking about poisoning people? Please take appropriate action and fire this gentleman! pic.twitter.com/spyzKVfsYW
— Stacy Kitts (@Skitts01) August 31, 2020
Holly Matkin