A man was filmed smacking a virtual reality (VR) headset off a TikToker’s head in the middle of a Target aisle.
Dawson (@dawszn.npc), a YouTuber who makes content that includes interacting with people in public while he’s wearing a VR headset, posted the video on Jan. 28. It’s been viewed over a million times.
The TikTok begins by showing a man walking down an aisle in Target with a young child sitting in a shopping cart. He tells Dawson that he “might wanna get outta the way there, chief.”
“You’re in my playspace,” Dawson tells him while wearing the VR headset.
The man responds by saying “get the fuck outta here” and knocking the headset off Dawson’s head. The video cuts out briefly because, as Dawson explains later in the video, he was just about to begin recording on the headset when the man hit it.
A Target employee tells Dawson that he can’t be using a VR headset in the store.
“He was wrong, but you also were wrong, too,” the employee says. Dawson apologizes. Later in the TikTok, he confirms that the headset was not damaged.
Some commenters on Dawson’s video characterized the man’s actions as assault. Some even encouraged him to press charges.
“That’s assault brother,” @joseph_morales1 commented.
“How is u not hitting back,” @ayrtznburneracc wrote.
Others agreed with the Target employee’s assessment of the situation.
“Mess with people..and you find those that won’t tolerate your BS. There are those out there will take it further when you mess with em,” @so76861 commented.
“You’re clearly trying to get a reaction out of people,” @user6969696942042069420 wrote. “Encountering temperamental people is a risk you run doing stuff like this.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Dawson and Target via email.
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