Video of Employees At New York Dunkin’ Dumping Water on Homeless Man Sparks Protests
A video of a Dunkin' employee dumping water on a sleeping homeless man has spread like wildfire all over social media. Now, many are calling for the chain to fire the workers responsible.
In the video posted on Facebook late Sunday, an employee at a Syracuse Dunkin' can be seen dumping a cup of water on a man sleeping at one of the restaurant's tables. The worker can be heard angrily lecturing the man that he didn't want him sleeping at his restaurant, and that he had warned him before not to do it again.
The man who threw the water and another man not on camera can be heard laughing as the homeless gathered his soaked belongings.
The NY Post says the homeless man who had the water thrown at him has been identified as Jeremy Dufresne. CBS Albany is reporting that Dufresne's aunt says he is disabled, and has schizophrenia and occasionally needs oxygen.
What's really sad, is that according to Syracuse.com, Dufresne was at the Dunkin' to charge his phone so he could call his mother and tell her good night.
Now some are calling for further measures, as about 20 advocates for the homeless gathered outside the restaurant Monday in protest. Some held up signs that said "Homeless Lives Matter" and "Homeless are Human".
One Syracuse area advocate named Al-amin Muhammad confronted the store employees, and asked if management would contact him about what happened. The advocate can be heard saying that if someone didn't contact him with some sort of explanation, then he would call for the boycott of the restaurant.
The Dunkin' restaurant owner, Kim Wolak said:
It not only violated our written policies, but goes against our core values as an organization — which include creating a welcoming and hospitable environment and treating everyone with dignity and respect,
The video as later reposted to a number of YouTube channels...