A viral TikTok shows an attorney confronting a man she claimed secretly took a photo of her and her baby niece at a mall in Detroit. However, some commenters called the TikToker a “Karen” for her assumptions and willingness to post a video of a man she couldn’t confirm took photos of her.
User @pojenky.esq, whose bio says she’s a lawyer, filmed and posted the video on Oct. 3. The clip showed her running up to a man while inside a Macy’s department store and immediately asking him questions. The caption reads: “Could have been taking a pic of the baby” and includes the hashtags: #Detroit, #michigan, #child, and #trafficking. She also requested that viewers “find this man.”
The overlays read: “The happened at the Novi Twelve Oaks Mall, in Michigan on 10/3/2021 at 1:23pm. I was holding my 10-week old niece and this man walked up on [me] and took a picture. Notice how he grabs at the phone when I mention the picture.”
“Sir, did you take a picture of me?” the TikToker asked the man, who looked puzzled at the question. “When you were downstairs, did you take a picture of me?
“A picture of you? What? No,” he responded.
“You mind showing me your phone?” She asked.
“Why would I show you my phone?” he asked back.
Agitated, the Tiktoker attorney, “When you walked behind me, you had your phone out. When you came behind me, the camera made a click sound like you were taking a picture.”
The man then unlocked his phone and showed the woman his last phone. He scrolled down, but she demanded to see more, to which the man declined and recoiled from her.
“Can you leave me alone?” he asked.
The overlay also reads, “Then when I point out that the picture he is showing me is from an 2.5 hours earlier, he puts it away quickly actually show the reel or any pics, although there are clearly other pics on the bottom of the scroll reel.”
He said he would “swear on my brother’s grave” that he had not taken a picture of her and says, “Can you leave me alone, please? You’re harassing me.”
As she continued to make demands, the overlay now read, “Realizing he is dead caught, now he resorts to classic (poorly implemented and bad acting) GASLIGHTING.”
The attorney claimed and warned that if she finds the alleged photo on the internet, she is the “‘fuck around and find out’ type.”
Many believe the man likely had taken the photo of the TikToker. One commenter wrote, “He totally did. His response, his tone, his facial expression. He’s a liar.” @pojenky.esq responded, “Exactly.”
Another commenter stated that he’s “100% guilty. His body language and tone is a dead giveaway.”
One woman dipped into the realities that women face in protecting their bodies: “The men on the comment section is terrifying! Must be nice not having to worry about your safety all the time. Either total ignorance or guilty.” @pojenky.esq, who also thought the man could have been a human trafficker, replied that she was shocked at the “misogyny from both men and women.”
However, others believe she was overreacting and that the man could have been doing anything. One patronizing commenter said, “Poor Karen Calm TF Down.”
One woman said, “This is weird as f*ck. He took out his phone and showed you his pic, which he didn’t have to do. Calm tf down.”
Another believed she was hunting for clout: “This is sad. You are hunting ppl to blame for views.”
Others believed it could have been a mistake on her end, given that the shutter clicking noise could occur in numerous actions on cell phones. But when the Tiktoker attorney claimed to see more photos on his roll, she was reminded that he didn’t have to show her anything on his phone.
The Daily Dot reached out to Macy’s, Novi Police Department, and @pojenky.esq for comment.
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