Woman demands $1,000+ of items from Target for free as ‘reparations,’ police say

BLUE ASH, Ohio (WXIX/Gray News) – Newly released bodycam video shows the arrest of a “belligerent” woman who allegedly told Target employees they should give her more than $1,000 worth of items for free because she deserved reparations.

The reported incident happened in October 2022 at a Target store in Blue Ash, Ohio.

According to court documents, 37-year-old Karen Ivery became “belligerent” and “totally unruly” when she did not have enough money to pay for the merchandise that had been scanned, totaling $1,051, a cashier told police.

The cashier flagged a supervisor, who told police Ivery asked that Target give her “reparations” while going on a spiel about how she was owed the items, an officer wrote in court documents.

The supervisor said Ivery pushed her into soda machines at the cafe counter.

“I put my hands on her shoulders, attempting to keep some space between us, but her body was physically touching mine,” the supervisor told police.

An affidavit stated that Ivery then went “haywire” and “started screaming,” according to the supervisor.

Bodycam footage shows Ivery telling officers she was trying to have a “larger conversation about how money works.”

“We all know money has not treated people equally,” she said, per the bodycam footage. Later, she added, “The system is rigged against people doing the right thing.”

Ivery later told police, “I decided to take a stand. This is my Rosa Parks moment,” as shown in the footage.

A manager also tried and failed to calm Ivery down, at which point he walked back to the security office, the supervisor told police.

He said he tried to shut and lock the door, but Ivery forced her way into the office. That’s when he punched her in fear for his safety, he told police in an affidavit.

Ivery was charged with disorderly conduct and menacing, according to authorities.

She was convicted on the disorderly conduct count and sentenced to one day in jail and fined $110.

Copyright 2023 WXIX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.