A Georgia State University student is speaking out after an Atlanta Popeyes called the police on her after she attempted to buy food for a homeless outside the restaurant. Video of the incident has been seen by over 5 million people on TikTok.
The senior Jo Ortega told FOX 5 that was picking up an order for DoorDash at the Popeyes when she saw a homeless man. Then Ortega went to order him a two-piece, employees at the store weren’t happy.
“No ma’am, you can’t do it,” an employee said.
“Why? He’s asking for food?” Ortega replied.
“Ma’am, you can’t do it,” another employee said. “I could care less about you recording me baby.”
The drive-thru window then closed.
Ortega’s initial shock that employees wouldn’t let her buy food for the man experiencing homelessness turned to anxiety once the police showed up.
“At that moment I was terrified, I thought I was gonna get arrested,” she said. “Maybe I should just call my family, and I might not be coming home tonight.”
Atlanta police department confirmed to FOX 5, that they did respond to a call of a woman refusing to leave the drive-through. However, since Ortega didn’t break any laws they didn’t make any arrest.
Ortega she says officers actually commended her.
“The officer pulled me to the side and said, ‘I really thank you for doing that, thank you for buying him food. I appreciate that,’” Ortega said. Ortega says she would eventually got a hold of a general manager at the store who felt terrible about the whole encounter.
“My name is Jazz and thanks,” the man said in a follow-up video.
Popeyes said in a statement that they “are committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect. We have ensured all employees at this restaurant have been provided with retraining to help navigate a range of guest interactions, such as the situation highlighted in the video.”
Ortega has since started an online fundraiser to help Jazz find permanent housing.
“Oftentimes homeless [people] are treated like stray animals, stray cats. If you feed them they’re going to keep coming back,” Ortega said. “In all of this, I believe that people deserve to be treated like people.”
Link to original The Black Detour