A woman said she was verbally assaulted while breastfeeding her baby in a Target store in Torrington, Conn.
Jessie Maher captured the incident on video and posted it to Facebook on June 13. She said that she was nursing her infant when a man yelled, “Can’t you do that somewhere else? … That’s f*****g disgusting … You are nasty.”
The exchange became heated.
“Because I am feeding my baby this man is going crazy and I’m shaking,” you can hear Maher say in the video.
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The man then demands store staff give him a refund for his purchased items. Meanwhile, an unidentified woman and the Target employees, defend Maher.
“You shouldn’t be ashamed of feeding your baby. He can go the other way. This is a beautiful moment. If he doesn’t like it he can go,” the woman says in the video.
Maher said the Target staff told her she was free to breastfeed her baby anywhere in the store.
“The amount of people coming at me to defend me was amazing,” Maher said. “Everyone that was right in that area was there for me defending me, so it felt really good,” she told Eyewitness News 3, a Global News affiliate.
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In a statement, Target condemned the incident.
“Our breastfeeding policy, which applies to all stores, is just one of the ways in which we support our guests. Guests who choose to breastfeed in public areas of the store are welcome to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable.”
“For this particular incident, the team members at the Torrington store were simply helping to ensure this guest and others had a great experience,” Target told Eyewitness News 3.
Maher said she is going to contact police and file a report.
“With all the hate going on in the world. You pick your battles. This is not a battle to fight … A woman feeding her baby. It’s pretty ridiculous he needs to know that and other people need to know that too,” Maher said.