Black Friday: The Pepper Spray Holiday

Posted on Nov 25, 2011

AP / Amy Sancetta

Early bird shoppers snatch up flat screen televisions at a Target store in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Following the good example set by recent police activity in our great nation, a particularly determined shopper whipped out the pepper spray Thursday night in a bid to fend off competition for an Xbox at a Los Angeles Walmart. That set the tone for a Black Friday alive with holiday spirit.  —KA

AP via seattlepi:

On Thanksgiving night, a Walmart in Los Angeles brought out a crate of discounted Xboxes, and as a crowd waited for the video game players to be unwrapped, a woman fired pepper spray at the other shoppers “in order to get an advantage,” police said.

Ten people suffered cuts and bruises in the chaos, and 10 others had minor injuries from the spray, authorities said. The woman got away in the confusion, and it was not immediately clear whether she got an Xbox.

Protests were held Friday in places like Chicago and Washington to get people to reconsider shopping at national chains on what is known as Black Friday, so called because of the accounting practice of recording losses in red and profits in black. Protesters say the shops’ earlier opening hours have ruined the Thanksgiving holiday, which is meant to bring families together.

On Friday morning, police said, two women were injured and a man was charged after a fight broke out at an upstate New York Walmart. And a man was arrested in a scuffle at a jewelry counter at a Walmart in Kissimmee, Florida.

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