A TikTok video posted by creator @zoerayxoxo appears to show a confrontation in a San Francisco park involving a young woman, her boyfriend, and an older man in an orange pullover. The video begins with the man aggressively telling the couple to “back the f–k off” and accusing them of feeding birds. The woman in the video explained that they were already finished feeding the birds and had not seen a sign prohibiting the activity.
The confrontation seemed to escalate when the man brought up race, stating in the video that he had encountered people of the woman’s “skin tone” drinking wine in a park earlier. The woman then stated in the video that they were feeding birds and indicated they intended to post the interaction online. The video’s caption claims the man “unnecessarily brought race into an interaction that had nothing to do with race, escalating things even further.”
The man continued to lecture the couple, as seen in the video. The woman said in the video, “What’s your problem? I’m sick of it.” The man claimed in the video that they were “entitled for feeding birds” and should have seen the sign. The woman retorted in the video, “We didn’t see the sign. Well, you should. And we don’t give a f–k.” The man insisted in the video that they “don’t give a f–k about feeding birds.” The woman told him in the video to “educate yourself” and stated that feeding birds bread “doesn’t harm anyone,” before reiterating, “back the f–k off.”
Physical altercation and exchange of insults appeared to intensify the conflict
The video’s caption states the man grabbed the boyfriend’s arm and raised his fist. The woman told the man in the video, “Don’t put your hand on me,” and stated, “I put my arms just so you could stay away from me.” The video’s caption also states the man “grabbed his arm and raised his fist” after the boyfriend put his arm up to create space. According to the video’s creator, the caption suggests that “speaking aggressively while moving into someone’s personal space after being repeatedly told to back off can be categorized as assault.”
During the altercation, the man claimed in the video, “I fought for your f–king country, b—h, and lost my leg.” A voice in the video then said, “I know, I hate the military. F–k the military.” The woman called the man a “piece of s–t” in the video and told him, “go to hell. Burn. Burn in hell,” before adding, “I don’t believe in hell, you crazy psycho. Let’s just go.” The video’s caption states the man “called me a b—h and then brought up losing his leg in the military, as though that meant I owed him deference after the way he had treated us.”
The video shows the man walking away from the couple. The woman said in the video, “Posting it online. Look, that guy’s fighting with him.” The footage then shows other people in the background, including a woman carrying a baby and another man who appears to be with the aggressor. The woman stated in the video, “He looks so proud of himself for making a young girl upset.” The video’s caption notes, “Someone immediately came up and took his side.”
The video concludes with the woman approaching another man who was seen feeding birds nearby. The video’s on-screen text stated, “There was also another man nearby feeding birds, so we didn’t realize it’s not allowed.” The video’s caption implies the aggressor only confronted the couple, adding, “I went over to talk to the man who had been feeding the birds right next to us the whole time. But this guy never approached him.” The caption also clarified that the couple was “feeding the pigeons barley and farro, then gave the seagulls a few tiny pieces of bread,” and that they were “already done” when the man approached them.
The video’s caption states the creator posted the footage “because I think misogyny and age-based entitlement played a huge role in this interaction.” The caption describes feeling like “an older man thought he could approach younger people, lecture us, ignore our repeated requests to disengage, and keep escalating because he expected us to just take it.” The creator also stated in the caption that she had “already asked him multiple times to leave us alone and told him that if he genuinely believed we were doing something wrong, he could call the proper authorities” before she began filming. The caption further states, “I’m not claiming I reacted perfectly. I’m saying that focusing exclusively on a distressed woman’s imperfect reaction while excusing the man who repeatedly ignored her boundaries is exactly the kind of double standard I’m talking about.”
Top comments on the video include: “people who feed flocks of birds in public places suck” “Everyone involved here kind of sucks” “I was with you guys until you said f–k the military” “He has a valid point, but just leave the race stuff out.” “you don’t believe in hell but told him to burn in hell…🤔” “In all honesty the sign says do NOT feed the birds”
