Video: Concerned Citizen Behind Popular Post On Mall Confrontation Speaks Out

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – A video that went viral on Facebook which showed a confrontation between an adult and security at Tupelo’s Mall at Barnes Crossing prompted a concerned citizen to write a social media post that has gained a lot of attention.

By now most people in the area have seen the video , shot by someone with a cell phone Saturday night outside the mall food court.

Sources tell us it was nearly closing time, and several members of this group had been asked to leave the mall earlier, for unknown reasons.  Sources say the group returned and threatened to enter the mall as it was closing.

In the clip, 18 year old Drew Smith walks up to a security officer, who is also a Tupelo Police officer, makes a threatening gesture and a scuffle ensues.

The teen was arrested on misdemeanor charges and released on bail.  Not long after the video was posted,  thousands of comments appeared, some of them questioning whether the authorities had acted appropriately.

Chante Thornton has lived in the area for a long time, and says she was out at the mall Saturday evening, a few hours before the taped confrontation.  Thornton says she noticed the group of teens misbehaving, and wrote about that in a Facebook post Sunday morning.

She also encouraged parents to take responsibility for teaching their children how to act and to respect authority.

“You have to comply and that’s my cry for our generation and for our kids, you don’t have to prove anything to your friends, you don’t have to be the big guy to say , because, you have to realize, when you pay the consequences your friends are on the outside looking in, so you’re the one in trouble, you have to pay that consequence, so we have to teach our kids the consequences that comes behind their actions,” said Chante Thornton, of Tupelo.

Thornton says she will start a ministry to help teach respect and values to young people.  She is looking for people to help with the task and says the issues must be addressed by all segments of society.