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Indiana Target staffer makes 'Blue Lives Matter' drink on video with 'blood of innocent Black men,' gets fired

Van Greyson Heart used bleach, blue color, ice and some red unidentifiable substance to make the drink

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: Target has fired one of its employees after a video posted on TikTok showed the employee making ‘Blue Lives Matter’ drink in an in-store Starbucks that included bleach, ice, and “the blood of innocent Black men.” The employee has been identified as Van Greyson Heart, who allegedly made the video inside a Target branch in Nora, Indiana, and posted it on the social media platform. The man shared the video with a background song, titled — ‘All I want for Christmas is a Few Dead Cops.’

According to reports, the video which has now been deleted showed a Starbucks cup in one hand of the man, who was not seen. On the other side of the cup, “Blue Lives Matter” was written. Greyson was then heard narrating the recipe of the drink as he said, “Hi guys, I updated my recipe for the Blue Lives Matter drinks.” “First we’re gonna start with bleach,” he continued as he poured over a cup of blue liquid into a container in the clip. “All the way to the third line,” Greyson stated.

He then said, “I add ice because, you know, cops love ice.” Then the footage showed Greyson put in a blender a mixture consisting of some blue coloring that the coffee house uses for its ‘special’ drinks. “… We add more bleach, a little blood of innocent Black men,” the employee was heard saying in the video as he put some unidentified red-colored thing in the drink. “And then we add this special blue ingredient that Starbucks has. We do have it and yes, we are holding out on you,” Greyson added.

After blending every ingredient, the man then poured the mixture on top of the ice and bleach already in the cup. “Pour that right on top. Ahh, that beautiful blue color,” he said. As Greyson ended his around 45 seconds clip, he said: “And even though it has a straw-less lid, we’re going to serve it with a straw because, ya know, they only think about themselves.”

A spokesman for Starbucks, Reggie Borges, said that staff who work in Starbucks locations inside Target stores are directly hired by the retail company. However, the coffee house chain said that it was aware of the footage and said it “condemned the video and any behavior that threatens violence against others,” as reported by The Police Tribune. Target said in a statement: “This video is appalling and unacceptable. We don’t tolerate this behavior at Target, want all guests to be treated with respect and are terminating the team member who is responsible. We also have rigorous food safety procedures in place, which this team member egregiously violated with this behavior. We’re deeply sorry for this disturbing video, which TikTok has removed based on the platform’s guidelines.”

Though the disturbing video was deleted from TikTok, it's available on Twitter. Several people on the site have criticized the employee’s action as well as slammed Target and Starbucks. One user wrote: “Target will probably promote him. One of their store managers threw the cops out during a school supply charity function. The Regional Manager had to step in and walk it back.” Another said, “This guy should be fired. This is appalling!!” “@starbucks has a habit of hiring these fools. I’ve stopped giving them money for months now. #BackTheBlue #WarOnPoliceisreal #starbucks,” added the third user.