A nurse from Northern California has become the center of a social media storm after a video showed her arguing with a store worker.
Michelea Ponce works at Enloe Health, a nonprofit hospital system in Chico.
People online identified her as the person in the clip, which quickly spread across platforms like TikTok and Twitter.
The incident happened at a Target store in Orland, California.
Ponce filmed herself approaching an older employee who was stocking shelves.
The worker wore a red t-shirt with the word “Freedom” on it.
This shirt links to Charlie Kirk, who started Turning Point USA, a group that supports conservative ideas.
Ponce asked the employee, “They let you wear that shirt here?” She then called the worker “racist” and “f**king stupid” for wearing it.
Ponce said Kirk spreads hate and demanded to see a manager.
The employee stayed calm.
She explained that Target allows any red shirt and said Kirk is not racist.
She asked Ponce to stop recording, but Ponce kept going.
At the end, the worker wished Ponce a nice day and walked away.
Ponce posted the video on TikTok under the handle @motherofballers.
She has thousands of followers there. But after the clip went viral, she made her accounts private.
Many people online criticized her actions. They called it bullying and said it was wrong to harass someone at work.
They praised her for staying polite. Others contacted Enloe Health to ask if this behavior fits their standards. The hospital has not commented yet.
Ponce lives in Orland and calls herself an anti-racism activist on social media. Her job at Enloe involves caring for patients.
This event has raised questions about how people act in public, especially those in helping professions.
