Kai Metcalf, Lois Speelman, Racial Remarks

The surveillance video of Kai Metcalf, the 37-year-old woman who was accused of assaulting 100-year-old Wal-Mart greeter Lois Speelman, was released yesterday.

Although no charges were filed against her, Metcalf still comes off in a negative light on the video. When Speelman falls after Metcalf grabs her receipt from Speelman, Metcalf just takes off, leaving the old woman on the ground.

That's not good, but there is more to the story.

While Speelman has been doing lots of interviews since the incident, Metcalf has been silent. Yesterday, that changed.

We're hearing Metcalf's account of what happened.

She and her lawyer did an on-camera interview with WISN's Brendan Conway.

Video here.

Transcript

KAI METCALF: I'm glad that it's over. I'm glad that I'll be able to soon put it behind me.

BRENDAN CONWAY: For more than a week, Kai Metcalf has been in the middle of an incident that captured national attention. Metcalf was arrested, spent the night in jail, and accused of assaulting 100-year-old Wal-Mart greeter Lois Speelman. But after watching surveillance video and talking to both sides, the district attorney's office announced there was no criminal conduct.

METCALF: I believe that we both have some blame in this. And I think that she could have handled her situation a little bit different and I probably could have handled mine a little bit differently.

CONWAY: Speelman told police Metcalf bear-hugged and assaulted her; and the day after the incident she told 12 News she was attacked.

LOIS SPEELMAN: She done the job. She needs to be punished. I didn't do anything wrong.

CONWAY: Speelman stopped Metcalf leaving the store to check her receipt. The video does not have any sound, but Metcalf says Speelman made some racial comments. That's when Metcalf grabbed for the receipt, knocking Speelman over. The D.A. decided it was an accident.

METCALF: The last statement was, 'You people think you can do whatever you want. Not today.' And at that point, that's when I just said, 'Well, can I have my receipt?' I did ask for it first before I went to take it.

CONWAY: According to a police report, Speelman was asked what she meant by 'these types of people.' She said, 'Mexican, Spanish, and colored people.' 'These types of people' are 'difficult to deal with.'

Speelman's attorney says he can't comment on what she thinks, but he says his 100-year-old client was just doing her job.

MICHAEL HUPY: The lesson is we should be more respectful to people, especially older people. We should have more patience. We should be more tolerant.

CONWAY: Speelman's attorney says that his client is back at work and was told by Wal-Mart that she could not do anymore interviews. Metcalf says that she walked away after Speelman fell to the ground. She's been criticized by this but she says she just left the scene. She was trying to calm the situation down. Neither Speelman or Metcalf, we're told, are planning to file any civil lawsuits in this case. And Toya, Metcalf told me she's just looking to put this whole thing behind her.

Metcalf seems very reasonable, saying that both of them should have handled the situation differently.

I think that sums it up very well.

Speelman's racial remarks are in the police report. It's not as if Metcalf is making that up. Speelman is on the record. And the video shows that Metcalf did leave after knocking Speelman down.

There's little that's uncertain about what happened.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also interviewed Metcalf. Her attorney, Julius Kim, was with her.

Kai Metcalf said Thursday she had no problem allowing a 100-year-old woman who works as a greeter at a Milwaukee Walmart to inspect her receipt as she left the store last month.

Metcalf, in an interview at her lawyer's office, said she did have a problem when the greeter, Lois Speelman, kept complaining about "you people," before saying something to the effect of, "You people think you can do whatever you want. Not today."

That's when Metcalf, who is black, tried to take her receipt back from Speelman, who is white. The two made what prosecutors described Thursday as "incidental contact" with each other, causing Speelman to fall backward to the ground.

The Nov. 28 confrontation led to Speelman undergoing a CT scan at a hospital and Metcalf spending a night in jail, but prosecutors said Thursday they would not file charges against Metcalf because surveillance video of the incident shows she did not intend to harm Speelman and that the situation "does not rise to the level of a crime," according to a statement from the Milwaukee County district attorney's office.

Metcalf, 37, said Thursday she wishes she had handled the situation better and apologized for Speelman's fall.

"It was humbling and humiliating and a lesson learned," Metcalf, a Milwaukee resident, said of the incident and her arrest. "I hate that I've been made to look like this monster or something, because everybody kind of jumped on the story and ran with it. It was a horrible experience."

A police report released Thursday shows Speelman made similarly racially charged comments to prosecutors while discussing the case last week.

Speelman told prosecutors that "these types of people" often become upset when she checks their receipts, the report says.

When she was asked to clarify what she meant by "these types of people," Speelman said, "Mexicans, Spanish and colored people," according to the report.

Speelman also said "these types of people" are "difficult to deal with," the report says.

The police report also says Speelman violated Walmart policy by grabbing Metcalf's arm to get her attention and leaving the store to check the receipt while she and Metcalf were on the sidewalk outside the building.

..."I felt bad that she fell," Metcalf said. "That wasn't my intention by any means. I just really wanted to remove myself from the situation because I was upset and offended."

...Metcalf said she should have ignored Speelman's comments or asked to speak with a manager rather than trying to grab the receipt. She said she was not trying to flee from the store and voluntarily gave her contact information to a store employee before leaving the property, at 3355 S. 27th St.

Speelman's lawyer said Thursday that Metcalf shouldn't have left Speelman on the ground.

"It certainly is bad behavior to knock a 100-year-old woman down, go to your car and leave her on the floor," Hupy said. "But the district attorney's office concluded what happened didn't amount to a crime."

Metcalf, who has no criminal record, repeatedly apologized Thursday for her role in the incident and said she's glad Speelman wasn't seriously injured.

"I was really scared because I've never been in trouble before," she said. "I've never been arrested, never had any kind of police contact, so that for me was really difficult and humbling."

Metcalf isn't the cruel thug she was made out to be in the media and Speelman is no saint.

Wal-Mart customers shouldn't be harassed and insulted by employees. Speelman's racial comments were inappropriate.

If she weren't 100 years old, she probably would have been fired. Do you think a younger employee making such racially offensive remarks to a customer would be tolerated?

I hope not.

Obviously, Wal-Mart is concerned that Speelman is going to say something offensive or they wouldn't have demanded that she not do anymore interviews.

Metcalf has apologized for her role in all this. The woman spent a night in jail! She has paid quite a price for her part.

Speelman has suffered, too. Although she wasn't seriously injured in the fall, she was bruised and sore.

Where's Speelman's apology?
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TMJ4's coverage of the release of the surveillance video continued to side with Lois Speelman.

Video of TMJ4's report.

GEORGE MALLET: We are getting our first look at the now infamous video of a 100-year-old Wal-Mart greeter who got into an altercation with a disgruntled customer. The video shows an exchange between greeter Lois Speelman and customer Kai Metcalf. The district attorney has ruled the incident does not rise to the level of a crime. Still, the images of a 100-year-old woman falling to the ground are, at the very least, disturbing.

District Attorney John Chisholm says no crime took place. You be the judge.

One hundred-year-old Lois Speelman stops Kai Metcalf. She carefully goes over the customer's receipt. When Metcalf snatches the receipt back from Speelman, the centenarian falls to the ground.

The TMJ4 report makes no mention whatsoever about Speelman's racial remarks.

I wonder if Michael Hupy, Speelman's lawyer, advertises on TMJ4.