Man Accused of Pulling Gun on Teens at McDonald's

Black teens say he made a remark about welfare first
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 23, 2018 1:55 AM CST
Suspect Accused of Pulling Gun on Teens at McDonald's
Lloyd Edward Johnson.   (Eden Prairie Police Department)

A white man who allegedly pulled a gun on a group of black teenagers in McDonald's has been arrested. Police say Lloyd Edward Johnson, 55, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault, the Star Tribune reports. Video posted online shows the man in a confrontation with a group of mostly Somali-American teens. The group suddenly scatters, with one of them shouting, "He has a gun!" A manager screams at the teens to get out until a customer intervenes, telling her she should call the police instead of sending the teens into danger. One of the teens, 17-year-old Jihan Abdullahi, says the incident began after she and a friend tried to use Apple Pay to pay for an order of Cinnamon Melts.

Abdullahi, who says the Eden Prairie restaurant is her group's usual hangout, tells the New York Times that the man was behind them in line and complained about the delay when the payment system didn't work. She says the man told them they were probably trying to use electronic welfare benefits to pay for the order—and when she asked if he had said that because they were black, he said yes. She says an argument between her friends and the man escalated until he "told everybody to back up." The teen says she saw the man waving a black handgun. Paul Ostergaard, the owner of the McDonald's, says the restaurant is cooperating with police, CBS Minnesota reports. "Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our customers and employees," he says. (This Florida man told two Muslim McDonald's customers that they "didn't deserve American food.")

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