A Chico, California-based woman named Michelea Ponce lashed out at an elderly Target employee for wearing a red Charlie Kirk t-shirt at work. Ponce shared the entire encounter on her TikTok account, @motherofballers, where she has around 19.7K followers. However, the video had an adverse effect and instead, backfired heavily on her.

Talking about the incident, Ponce could be seen confronting an elderly Target employee named Jeanie Beeman for wearing a red Charlie Kirk t-shirt. Ponce aggressively asks Beeman if she is allowed to wear the t-shirt at work, to which the latter calmly replies that she is allowed to wear the same.

However, Ponce starts verbally mistreating the elderly woman and also threatens to call her manager. But Beeman does not lose her composure and states that she does not wish to argue with her. The TikToker also accuses the woman of allegedly supporting a racist.

The elderly woman continues to reply calmly, adding that Kirk was not a racist and that it is her opinion if she thinks otherwise. Beeman greets the woman for one last time and walks away, after which the latter could be heard hurling a slur at her.

The video was quick to go viral on social media, and several users provided solidarity with the elderly Target employee and lauded her for handling the situation in a composed manner. According to Newsbreak, some conservative accounts also tracked down Jeanie Beeman and started a crowdfunding campaign for her.

This was done with an endearing objective of sending the elderly woman on a nice vacation for her behavior, which has clearly won over the internet. The GiveSendGo fundraising campaign started for Beeman has accumulated around $150K till now, which is quite a significant amount.

On the other hand, Michelea Ponce has been on the receiving end of some severe criticism for her behavior towards the elderly woman. Many social media users have also managed to locate her place of employment.

Ponce works as a nurse at Enloe Health, which is reportedly being bombarded with several phone calls regarding Ponce’s behavior with the Target employee. The medical center has also released a statement pertaining to the fiasco.

They expressed their distress over their employee’s behavior and informed them that the Chico Police Department has been investigating the case.

The statement said, “The Chico Police Department is investigating a social media post on the personal account of an Enloe Health employee. We are deeply concerned about the tenor of this post and the response it is creating from individuals of all political persuasions.”

Enloe Health added that the police authorities have been investigating any possible risk of an unlawful act or intimidation. They added, “We ask for patience and calm as we conduct our own internal investigation of this matter. In the meantime, we are relying on the expertise of the Chico Police Department to investigate any potential criminal activity or threats related to it.”

The medical center also requested people to avoid calling their main line incessantly so that they can provide for their patients without any obstruction. A social media user revealed that Ponce has locked her TikTok account, presumably due to the backlash coming her way.

An X user named Cassandra MacDonald took to her account to inform her followers that she had a phone call with Beeman. Cassandra revealed that the elderly woman got immense support from her manager and all her co-workers at Target following the incident.

She also felt that everyone is extremely fond of Beeman at her workplace. Cassandra hailed the elderly woman as the “internet’s grandma,” which she was delighted to hear.