NOCATEE, Fla. — Two young St. Johns County teens are accused of stealing merchandise and yelling out racial slurs at staff working at a Ben and Jerry’s shop in Nocatee Town Center.
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Action News Jax spoke with one of the store’s owners. The owners said they were disgusted to learn this all happened at their business.
It all took place Saturday night when two young boys, who are white, entered this establishment, harassing the only staff member there and shouting racial slurs like the N-word and White Power, according to that report filed with the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office.
Owner of the Ben & Jerry’s in Nocatee Town Center, Jessica Shaw said, “There’s a couple of things we want to make very clear. If these children were black, they would be in jail.”
Owner of the Ben & Jerry’s in Nocatee Town Center, Jessica Shaw, said she believes the LGBTQ flag is what fueled the two boys.
Shaw said, “It came from the fact that we had this flag on the wall. The child was saying there are no white strips that they can say White Power with all their chest. It’s not something that anyone of that age should be saying.”
The two boys told the staff member they worked at the establishment and tried to go beyond the counter, Shaw said, adding they do not work there.
Shaw said, “So, they walked back here. The very brave scooper blocked them. They tried to open this door, which goes into the kitchen.”
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Comments were made on the owner’s Facebook page when they posted about this incident. One person said, “There have already been incidents of kids terrorizing people from their golf carts, screaming racial slurs, destroying property, concerning young women, etc.”
Shaw said this isn’t the first time they have experienced young kids expressing racial or homophobic behavior.
Last year, she said, a group of kids wrote a homophobic slur on a mirror in the store’s bathroom.
There is surveillance video showing the incident, but the owners said they weren’t ready to release it.
The owners said they had enough of being treated this way by young people and are asking to stop the hate.
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