Twisted Tea Video: What Police Had to Say About Viral Circle K Altercation

Police have weighed in on the viral video of a fight in an Elyria, Ohio convenience store that took over social media last week. The clip shows a racist man getting smacked with a Twisted Tea can after spewing slurs for at least several seconds. Local police told The Chronicle-Telegram that they believe they have identified the men in the video, but no charges have yet been filed.

Elyria police Lt. James Welsh confirmed that he has seen the now infamous “Circle K Twisted Tea Fight” video making the rounds on social media. As of Thursday afternoon, he said, no one had called to formally report the incident, and no charges had been filed. Still, Welsh said that the police already knew the parties involved. “It has obviously gone viral on the internet, but to my knowledge it was never called in or reported,” he said.

Welsh’s statement did not clarify whether the incident is being investigated, or whether anyone involved should be concerned about facing charges. Most internet commenters seem to hope that no legal intervention comes of the video, feeling that justice was served on the spot.

The video is about one minute and 40 seconds long, apparently picking up at the tail end of a confrontation between two customers at a Circle K convenience store. A white man repeatedly shouts the N-word in the video, proclaiming that he can say it whenever he wants and challenging the Black man beside him to do something about it. For the most part, the Black man is quiet, but it is clear that the two were arguing before the recording started.

Things got physical when the Black man brandished a large can of Twisted Tea, which prompted the white man to hold out his face and say, “go ahead, smack me with it” repeatedly. The Black man obliged, breaking the beverage open against the racist’s face and knocking him to the ground. The two then scuffled briefly in a clearly one-sided fight before the Black man stormed out.

The video was recorded on Thursday, Dec. 24 and has circulated widely since then. It has now gotten over 2.4 million views on Twitter, where it was apparently posted first. It has also made waves on YouTube, Reddit and Instagram. So far, neither of the participants in the fight have come forward publicly.