‘Trying to Humiliate Me’: QuikTrip Security Guard Threatens to Call Cops on Black Mom Breastfeeding Her Baby in Car, Video Shows
A mother of three toddlers was stunned when a security guard harassed her for breastfeeding her baby in a convenience store parking lot. The young mother who goes by “Mama C” on social media filmed a white QuikTrip guard named “R. Stubbs” glaring at her through her car’s window when she was feeding her hungry child, while her two toddlers played in the front seat. A screenshot from a video of a security guard at a QuikTrip in Atlanta. (Photo: TikTok/FedsWatchingMamaC) Women are often shamed over breastfeeding in public, due in large part to the oversexualization of women's breasts. But the racial and power dynamics in this incident made it all the more uncomfortable — and frightening. Mama C said she had pulled into a 15-minute parking zone and was there for just 7 minutes before R. Stubbs walked up to her door and stared her down. The mom is a domestic violence survivor, and after moving around various Atlanta, Georgia, shelters, she is now living in her car. Oh, You Got One of Them?’: Black Woman Turns the Tables on Indianapolis Man Who Tried to Corner Her “This is where we feel safe, until this man decided to harass and humiliate us,” she wrote in her caption on TikTok, adding that he caused a scene in front of “30 plus people” in the parking lot. @inamenames Georgia law protects breastfeeding moms anywhere we’re allowed to be 🚨 But this security officer at QuikTrip (630 10th St NW, Atlanta) stood over me for 4 minutes while I fed my baby, refused to give his badge number 6 times, and tried to kick us out in front of 30+ people. I’m a domestic violence survivor living in my car with my 3 toddlers. This is where we feel safe — until this man decided to harass and humiliate us. 📜 Georgia Code § 31-1-9 says I have the right to breastfeed in public. 📹 This is part of the full 3:43 video I’m giving to my lawyer for my lawsuit. #BreastfeedingRights #CivilRights #Atlanta #QuikTrip #MomsOfTikTok #ViralVideo #JusticeForMoms #GeorgiaLaw #DomesticViolenceSurvivor #PoliceAccountability ♬ original sound - FedsWatchingMamaC The 24/7 convenience store also doubles as a gas station, and all locations of the massive Oklahoma-based chain have been designated as “Safe Places” for at-risk youth up to the age of 21 in some locations. The young mother’s age is not available, but many TikTok commenters noted that “Safe Place” signs were posted throughout the parking lot of this particular location at the corner of 10th St. and Northside Dr. in Midtown Atlanta. Mama C wrote in the comments, “He just wanted a reason to talk to me and kick me when I was down and surviving.” The security guard lingered outside her window for four minutes, ignoring her repeated requests for privacy. She asked for his badge number no less than six times, which he never revealed. “I’m about to leave,” she informed him. “I’m feeding my child. You’re violating my rights by watching me breastfeed my child.” Moving closer to her partially open driver’s side window, he said, “Ma’am, I’m making my rounds checking on everything, making sure everything’s all right,” as he continued to peer inside the car. After some back and forth between the two, with her rambunctious toddlers talking in the background, he warned her, “If I need the officer here to run you off, I will.” Breastfeeding is federally protected in any public or private location in all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. That means it’s illegal to ask someone to leave a public area in order to breastfeed, but claiming she was violating a parking restriction on privately-owned property could present a legal gray area. The young mother is undeterred, and she stated in the comments that she plans to file a lawsuit. “Thank you to everyone watching, sharing, and refusing to reduce this to whether it was ‘security’ or ‘police,’” she wrote to her online supporters. “An armed guard in full gear—vest, body cam, gun, handcuffs—stood over me while I breastfed my baby, trying to humiliate me… That’s the truth. And the point is, we’re being seen and I’m telling our story.”
