McDonald’s is taking heat after a viral video circulated showing an employee of one of the fast-food giant’s Minnesota restaurants yelling at a group of teens to leave the establishment as the teenagers said a man outside had pulled a gun on them.
Farida Osman, who was among the group of teens outside the McDonald’s, posted the video to Twitter on Monday evening. That video has been shared thousands of times.
{mosads}The clip shows a man leaving the McDonald’s, appearing to push one teenager on his way out. In the video, multiple teens yell “he has a gun,” before an employee yells at them to leave.
“I want everyone out of my store now,” the employee yells. “I don’t give a f—, get out of my store, now.”
“We were just trying to order when this man said racist remarks, claimed to be touched (when really he pushed a kid as seen on video) pulled a gun out on kids and you still kick us out knowing we’re in danger?” Osman tweeted along with the video.
Osman told the website MuslimGirl that the man made racist remarks to the teens, who are all black Muslims, and began “cussing them out” before pulling out his gun as he exited the restaurant.
In the video, the teenagers can be heard exclaiming about the man’s weapon as the McDonald’s employee tells them to leave.
Another patron in the video can be seen attempting to intervene, telling the employee to call the police and not to send the group out of the restaurant.
“Don’t send them out there when the dude just pulled a f—ing gun on them,” he says.
In a second video shared by Osman, another McDonald’s employee is heard telling the group: “If he pulled out a gun it’s for a reason.”
“There should be no reason that a man pulled out a gun on children just trying to order their food,” Osman tweeted.
Paul Ostergaard, the owner and operator of the Eden Prairie, Minn., McDonald’s, told Business Insider that the company is investigating.
“Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our customers and employees,” Ostergaard said. “We take this matter seriously and are working with local law enforcement while we investigate the situation.”