“Cornerstore Caroline”: Video of woman calling cops on crying child goes viral

Social media users are shaming and listing the phone number of a white woman who called the police on a crying black child she claimed “sexually assaulted” her in a Brooklyn store.

Twitter users have identified the woman as Teresa Sue Klein, a 53-year-old who lives in Brooklyn. A video of Klein (originally mockingly dubbed “Cornerstore Caroline”) calling the police on the boy was posted to Facebook and viewed 3.7 million times.

In the video, Klein is seen telling the police that she was just “sexually assaulted,” while the boy cries next to his mother. As Klein claimed that the boy groped her butt, she noticed that someone was filming her and called out her own race.

“White lady calls the cops on a black lady, I get it,” Klein said. “They’re videotaping.”

She added: “That’s right: The son grabbed my ass, and [the mother] decided to yell at me.”

“I was just sexually assaulted by a child,” Klein said later to police.

Surveillance video from the store shows the boy merely brushed past Klein while leaving the store, apparently setting the whole thing off.

During the confrontation, Klein audibly recited her own phone number and address, which social media users have been posting online in response to the video. VICE News has repeatedly tried to contact Klein at the listed phone number, which is returning a busy signal.

As crowds grew, indignant bystanders stepped in to confront Klein.

“Nobody wants to touch your flat ass,” one said to Klein. The person filming the video also said that he was going to make Klein “go viral.”

Klein also got into a confrontation with another woman who criticized her behavior. Klein approached the woman and implied that she couldn’t insult her behavior because she was also white.

“You cannot shame me. You are a child,” Klein said. “You are young enough to be my daughter.”

Cover screenshot via Jason Stovetop Littlejohn/Facebook