Crowdfunding campaigns were created for both the customers and former employee involved in an incident at the Cinnabon in Ashwaubenon that resulted in the employee being fired over racist comments she made to the customers.
In a video posted Dec. 5 to TikTok that was taken by the customers, the former employee made racist and other offensive comments to them and called herself a racist. The incident occurred at the Cinnabon in Bay Park Square mall in Ashwaubenon.
The video is available here. (Warning: it contains racist and other offensive language.)
The former employee was “immediately fired” by the franchise owner, a Cinnabon spokesperson confirmed Dec. 8. Cinnabon described the video as “deeply troubling.”
The employee’s “actions and statements are completely unacceptable and in no way reflect the values of Cinnabon, our franchisees, or the welcoming environment we expect for every guest and team member,” the spokesperson said in an email. “We take this situation seriously and remain committed to ensuring all guests are treated with dignity, respect, and kindness every time they visit one of our bakeries.”
According to a GoFundMe created by a cousin of one of the customers, the customer started recording the former employee after she made a “completely unprovoked” remark referring to the customer’s hijab as a “witchcraft bandana.” The remark was “directly insulting [the customer]’s hijab, her faith, and her identity,” the cousin wrote.
The customer called the cousin crying after the incident, according to the GoFundMe, and has been “traumatized, anxious, and scared to go outside” since. The customers were a Black Somali Muslim couple, according to the GoFundMe.
The GoFundMe is raising money to go toward legal fees and lawyer costs as the customers pursue justice, the fundraiser said.
A fundraising campaign on crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo was also created to make sure the former employee “lands on her feet after this betrayal.” The campaign was not created by the former employee. GiveSendGo confirmed the legitimacy of the fundraiser.
The GiveSendGo campaign states the former employee was “doing her job at Cinnabon” and “two Somali customers decide to make her shift hell with intimidation.”
As of 6 p.m. Dec. 8, the customers’ GoFundMe has raised $5,142 of a $45,000 goal and the GiveSendGo created for the former employee has raised over $118,476 of an increased goal of $271,301.
Cinnabon incident comes days after President Trump calls Somali immigrants ‘garbage’
The video was posted to TikTok three days after President Donald Trump referred to Somali immigrants as “garbage” he doesn’t want in the country during a Dec. 2 Cabinet meeting. Trump’s comments came after federal prosecutors said dozens of Somali immigrants had been charged with fraud for allegedly stealing $1 billion from Minnesota programs such as COVID-19 pandemic relief.
In a Dec. 5 news release responding to Trump’s remarks, Said Hassan, former Somali refugee and executive director of COMSA, a Green Bay resource center for immigrants and refugees, called for “unity, dignity and a renewed recognition of the lasting contributions immigrant families make to Wisconsin and to the nation.” He called out “the accompanying rise in anti-immigrant and anti-Somali rhetoric” across the country.
“What we are seeing right now is not public safety policy. It is fear being weaponized against entire communities,” Hassan said in the release. “These families are not a threat to our communities. They are strengthening our workforce, our schools, our health systems and our local economy.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said in a Dec. 8 news release that it welcomed the firing of the Cinnabon employee, with National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell stating “political leaders, including President Trump, must stop fomenting hatred against Americans of Somali descent.”
“We welcome Cinnabon’s decision to hold this employee accountable for her vile and racist rant against Black Muslim customers,” Mitchell said in the release. “The fact that this employee felt comfortable calling a Black couple the n-word on camera is a sign of how acceptable anti-Black and anti-Somali racism has become.”
Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@usatodayco.com or (920) 431-8314.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Crowdfunding campaigns created for customers, former employee in Cinnabon incident
Reporting by Vivian Barrett, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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