05/25/2026
LONG POST....Please Read.
A Child Was Attacked Inside A Pittsburgh Store And We Need To Talk About It
An Open Letter To The Community: Miami Market Inc.
What happened to the 15/16 year old boy inside Miami Market Inc. on Herron Avenue was wrong. End of story.
And before people rush to say “he should have listened” or “he deserved it,” let’s be clear about something. There is a difference between correcting a child and assaulting one.
This was not “it takes a village.” This was not an elder in the neighborhood checking a kid who got out of line. This was not community accountability or guidance from someone who looked like him. This was grown men working inside a business physically putting their hands on a teenager and escalating a situation that never had to go there.
Adults are supposed to know how to de escalate situations, especially when dealing with minors.
Even if the young man was disrespectful, loud, emotional, or wrong for swinging first, that still does not justify grown men chasing him through a store, cornering him, and violently attacking him.
That is where they crossed the line.
And here is what stands out to me most. If they were truly afraid of him, why follow him deeper into the store? Why continue engaging him physically? You do not chase down someone you genuinely fear. You call police. You keep your distance. You use the cameras that were already throughout the building.
Instead, they escalated it.
The energy shifted the moment they decided to treat the young man like a criminal instead of a customer. They followed him through that store like he was already a threat before anything even happened.
And it makes me ask a very real question. Would they have done that in Mt. Lebanon? Would they have done that in Squirrel Hill? Or is this the treatment reserved for our communities, our children, our sons?
Because that energy, that immediate assumption that he was a problem, that is what set the tone for everything that followed.
I have a son. And if this were my son, I would want that place shut down completely.
And let’s talk honestly about the mask argument.
We know for a fact the boy made it all the way to the back of the store without drawing a weapon or threatening anyone’s life. So what exactly justified that level of force?
How did he even make it that far into the store with the mask on? Was he stopped at the entrance? Was he asked calmly to remove it? Did anyone attempt to de escalate before it turned physical?
Those are real questions.
Because from what the community saw, the response was excessive, emotional, and violent.
And to the people defending it by saying “that’s what these kids need,” no. Absolutely not.
To even suggest that he deserved it reflects a generational seed that has been planted in some of us. The belief that our children deserve to be handled, disciplined, and put in their place by grown men who do not look like them. That mindset is part of the problem too.
A teenager being difficult does not cancel out the responsibility adults have to remain professional, controlled, and accountable.
Some of us were raised to believe physical humiliation and force are how young black boys learn lessons. But again, this was not discipline. It was assault.
And let’s not lose sight of the fact that this was still a child. A young boy still growing, still learning himself, still becoming whoever he is going to be.
What happened in that store is something he will carry with him for a long time. Moments like that shape people. They harden people. They traumatize people.
And none of this excuses any poor behavior on his part. Two things can be true at once. He could have handled himself better, and those grown men could still be completely wrong for how they responded.
Both things can exist at the same time.
I have also been told there is another video circulating that is even more violent than the one publicly shared. A video where staff allegedly attempted to seriously injure that young man.
If that is true, this moves far beyond store policy. That becomes criminal.
Those staff members should face consequences for their actions.
No mask policy, no argument, and no teenager’s attitude justifies grown adults violently putting their hands on a child inside a place of business.
And moving forward, the community has every right to decide where their money goes. Do not support Miami Market Inc. on Herron Avenue. This is not Miami. This is Pittsburgh. This is our community. Our children deserve to walk into stores and be treated with dignity, not treated like threats the moment they walk through the door.
If the community feels the same, it may be time to call for that store to be shut down.
At the end of the day, every child that walks through that door deserves to walk out feeling safe.
Tiffani Monique Walker
STK, Embrace Life Media
