In the ongoing Safeway workers’ strike, which has seen several stores across Colorado join the picket line in a bid to oppose understaffing, insufficient wage increases, and poor health benefits, negotiations are continuing to take place between local union reps and Safeway’s parent company Albertsons. During a Safeway strike in Denver recently, however, a MAGA supporter with a megaphone crashed the demonstration and harassed the protestors, which didn’t sit too well with the grocery store employees.
Originally published on UFCW Local 7’s Instagram, and since shared to Reddit, the almost-two-minute clip is accompanied by the caption, “This is what workers deal with every day on the line and on the job! These union workers are standing up for their rights and fighting for a fair contract. Social Media do your thing. Let’s find him. Let’s hold him accountable.”
Specifically, the video takes place outside of a Safeways store in Denver during a protest, and sees a man holding a megaphone sporting a pink t-shirt, blue jeans, and a blue ‘Make America Great Again’ cap as he yells at the demonstrators. As the clip begins, he’s in the distance walking towards the store, saying something mid-sentence, “–that actually want to work. As a bunch of f*cking lazy union workers, they want you to get off your a*s and do your job!“
Some of what the MAGA supporter yells is difficult to discern, as there is some background chatter, but it sounds like, “Instead of getting in there and doing their job. You know what? Now they’re gonna get replaced! Now they get replaced!” While he says this, a concerned protestor can be heard in the background saying, “I’m gonna call 911!“
The MAGA supporter then mockingly holds up his phone to the protestors and says, “This is the type of person right here.” while one of the demonstrators off-screen can be heard exclaiming, “Get away from them!” As he gets closer, it also becomes clear that the MAGA guy has a knife tucked away in his left jeans pocket.
A protestor does attempt to confront the man, and holds her sign in front of his face. “If you touch me, we’re gonna have problems.” threatens the MAGA supporter, before uttering something about having “guns right over there.” To this, the protestor declares, “So what. So what. Now you’re harassing us.”
As the protestors begin to crowd around the MAGA supporter, he then states, “It’s all right, baby. We got guns there.” before saying that not allowing him to stand where he was is “violence.” As tensions intensify, the man expresses,”And then you guys all crowd around me. That’s violence. Nice try, baby. I need to stand where I want. Keep trying to be violent out here.” Though, by the looks of the video, the MAGA man is the one who is attempting to instigate any sort of violence, with his mention of “guns“.
“You are defeated. Every single one of you have already been defeated. Just by standing out here.” fires the MAGA supporter, before branding the protestors as “losers” as he walks away, ending the footage.
As social media users dissect the video, netizens took to the comment section to air their views on the altercation. A commenter on Reddit joked, “That’s the most exercise he’s had in years.” while another chipped in with, “Dude, don’t you have better things to do than yell at people striking? I look at him and get second hand depression“. Meanwhile, another added, “MAGA always talks crap and then the minute they get confronted now they wanna talk about people committing violence!” and a fourth remarked, “Couldn’t even make the cut for ICE, so he has to settle for this.”
While it’s unclear whether the police were called to the disturbance, one thing is for sure: this footage does not put the MAGA supporter in a very positive light at all. Ultimately, there’s nothing wrong with standing up for your rights as a worker, and trying to publicly shame Safeway workers for doing so is seriously beyond the pale.
