iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A mother is speaking out after she was verbally abused for breast-feeding her baby in public at a Connecticut Target store.
Jesse Maher, 37, was nursing her 4-week-old daughter when a stranger began to berate her and call her names. Maher recorded the June 13 incident on her cellphone.
In the video, Maher can be heard saying, “Because I’m feeding my baby, this man is going crazy and I’m shaking.”
Maher later posted the video on her Facebook page. She told ABC News the man was telling her how “disgusting” she was for feeding her baby.
“He kept saying, ‘Can’t you cover up? What’s wrong with you?'” Maher explained.
While the man was berating Maher, Target staff members and another shopper came to her defense.
A voice can be heard in the video telling the man, “Don’t look then.”
Maher posted the video on her Facebook page in hopes of identifying the man.
“A breast-feeding mom is just sitting there defenseless. She’s just holding her baby, and feeding them,” Maher said. “You can’t just jump up and react.”
Maher’s video has earned over six million views. The mom said she has also received an overwhelming amount of messages on Facebook in support of her story.
“More than anything, it’s other breast-feeding moms just saying, ‘Thanks for looking out for us. Thanks for sticking up for us. Thanks for, you know, giving us a voice,’” she said.
Target employees ushered the unidentified man out of the store after the incident.
“Guests who choose to breastfeed in public areas of the store are welcome to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable,” the Minnesota-based company told ABC News in a statement.
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