Meijer Targeted For Boycott After Lies About Arrested Teen Goes Viral
/Meijer, a major Midwest grocery store chain, is facing backlash over viral 2024 bodycam footage of an employee’s arrest. The narrative is that a manager at an Ohio store stalked a poor 16-year-old autistic employee for taking occasional food that was set to be thrown in the trash. This spiteful manager waited until the employee had accumulated over $100 in theft before prosecuting so that he would receive a harsher sentence. Since then, people have been calling for boycotts until the store manager is fired. Many online stated they called their local Meijer in outrage. A GoFundMe was even set up for the young man, and over $30,000 was raised.
That’s a lot of money for a lie.
Viral “right-wing” and “America First” accounts reported that Meijer had a “16-year-old disabled deli worker” arrested. The reality is that the bodycam itself reveals the child in question was 19. Several news outlets and media posts stated the employee was “James Denison,” but the report (partially visible in the bodycam footage) listed his last name as “Glenboski.” It’s verbally confirmed on video that his name is James.
RedState posted an article stating “maybe” the teen had “special needs” and embedded one of the viral tweets from DesireeAmerica4, littered with misinformation. The New York Post calls the employee “autistic” and refers to the manager as “seemingly self-satisfied.” Their article explains what happens in the bodycam but doesn’t offer verification for the autism claims. Real America’s Voice promoted the idea that the young man was in a wheelchair. I reached out to MLive, a local Michigan news outlet, and asked how they verified that “James Denison” had autism. They updated the body of their article and admitted their source was the GoFundMe page, which had been deleted.
The GoFundMe creator is “Kerry Campbell,” a self-proclaimed registered nurse from Florida. Campbell appears to have no relation to the former Meijer employee and came across his story online. The fund has been restored, and Campbell posted on August 23, 2025, that “James accepted his funds,” though his name is still listed as “Danison” on the fundraiser.
Even if James were special needs—a claim many X users like TaraBull808 (1.3M followers) are reporting, yet have provided no evidence for—it doesn’t mean he was incapable of understanding it’s wrong to steal from your employer and a crime. James was very respectful and cooperative with the police, and the officer showed him grace.
James admitted to the police that he forgot his wallet at home “a couple of times” and stole food, intending to pay it back, but didn’t know who to talk to afterward. The officer suggested it “spiraled” from there. James also told the officer that his managers warned him about taking too long with his breaks and that he was at risk of being written up. When James tried to explain that he took long breaks due to waiting in line to pay for food, the officer warned him about self-incrimination. He even stole chicken and ate it in the break room the day the police were called.
TaraBull808 and Ian Miles Cheong (1.2M) vilified Meijer for “building a case against this kid for months” just to prosecute him on $110. Cheong also claimed the employee took items that were going to be thrown away. According to the manager on the bodycam, the products were taken from the sales floor. It’s unclear where the trash bin and dumpster claims originated. The manager confirmed the $110 figure, but according to reporting from INC.com, the figure could be higher. “A Meijer spokesperson told me, ‘An investigation showed that the former team member in question had knowingly committed multiple thefts over multiple months, totaling hundreds of dollars, which is why local law enforcement was involved.’”
Online commentators are furious at the manager for slowly building up his case to ensnare a kid, but Snopes—a fact-checking website—noted that some of the incident report is visible in the bodycam. Meijer’s investigation went on from March 2-7, 2024. Once the store was made aware of James’s actions, they reviewed camera footage to confirm it happened more than once, and then he was fired. There was no long-term conspiracy.
Some online users expressed disgust because criminals in blue states like California have gotten away with stealing hundreds and thousands of dollars, but this happened in Ohio. If right-wing activists don’t want Ohio to be like California, they should continue to prosecute crime and discourage others from committing theft.
Meijer has been criticized for getting the police involved at all. It is not uncommon for loss prevention and police to be involved when an employee is terminated for theft. There’s also always a chance that the employee is dangerous and doesn’t go quietly.
$110 isn’t a lot of money, but he’s not the only one who is stealing. Customers steal merchandise every day, and employee theft is a major problem for businesses. According to INC.com, “Employee theft costs U.S. businesses about $50 billion annually and is a factor in 30 percent of business bankruptcies.”
Meijer’s social media accounts are flooded with criticism. TikTok videos have been made with the Ohio manager’s face, while the store number is posted in the comment sections. A man claiming to be the son of the targeted Meijer manager, Joseph Kolacsky, said on TikTok that the arrest took place before his father began working at that location. In other words, the wrong man has been misidentified and harassed. Snopes independently confirmed the user’s identity with a driver’s license photo.
Images of former Republican Congressman Peter Meijer have also been posted online in association with this story. He’s been hated by both sides of the aisle, especially on the Right, for voting to impeach President Donald Trump after the 2020 election.
Meijer released a statement regarding the controversy: “We take this very seriously and recognize that the situation should have been handled differently. Earlier this year, we implemented a new procedure to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We’ve learned a great deal of experience.”
Many users online have taken Meijer’s statement as an admission of guilt. Others have referred to it as corporate fluff and demanded that Joseph Kolacsky be fired.
Left-wing users have responded negatively to corrections about this story, furious that anyone would defend a multi-billion-dollar corporation and have likened it to supporting “slavery.”
A company doesn’t deserve to be bullied out of calling the police when an employee repeatedly steals their products. It’s not about “defending a billion-dollar company.” We must defend the principle that it’s wrong to steal, and a company should not be destroyed based on internet myths and unverified beliefs. And while it is not shocking that many on the political Left are gleeful about tearing down a big business, it’s disturbing that so many “America First” influencers want to destroy an American company based on lies they’ve spread.
The lack of journalistic integrity and curiosity is also astounding and alarming. This is a reminder to do a little digging before reaching for your pitchforks.
