TACOMA, Wash. — A Safeway clerk who says he punched a man in self-defense has been suspended by the supermarket chain.
Surveillance video obtained by KIRO 7 shows Anthony Johnson in a fight with a man he says pulled a knife on him. Read the full story here.
“I did what anybody else would do, I defended myself,” Johnson said.
Like many Facebook users, people on the KIRO 7 Facebook page had an opinion about whether the store did the right thing.
Linda Harkleroad:
Shame on you Safeway that you care so little for your employees! I for one will not shop at your stores again and I hope others will boycott your stores also.
William Peyrot:
It all comes down to politics and they take it to the extreme where the customer is always right. Even if it meant stealing an item you can't physically touch them or you could lose your job
Scott Wheeler:
Shouldn't the company you work for be defending you if the police say it was self defense?
Donna Bryan Wood:
When you get hired by a grocery company part of your new hire paper work says on so many words that it is against company policy to go after a shoplifting suspect in any way.. you are told to contact managers . I get the whole defending yourself as I worked 33 yr in grocery business but you need to turn away and let it go and them go . You are taught not to pursue.
NEW VIDEO shows #Safeway employee fighting a man inside a #Tacoma store. Police said it was self-defense, so why is he being suspended from work? Kevin McCarty KIRO 7 talks to the employee about the confrontation that sparked the fight: kiro.tv/SafewayPunch
Posted by KIRO 7 News on Monday, May 23, 2016
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