Jeanie Beeman, the 72-year-old Target employee who was berated for wearing a Charlie Kirk “Freedom” shirt in the now-viral video, has come forward to speak to the media, and Enloe Health, Michelea Ponce’s employer, has held a press conference asking people to stop calling and demanding her termination.
Ponce herself has also released a statement, which is not written in the way she herself speaks, begging for forgiveness after the Chico Police announced that they have dropped their investigation into the incident.
Additionally, the GiveSendGo fundraiser launched by this reporter to send Beeman on vacation has now raised over $215,000.
The incident, which occurred in a Target store in Chico, California, was uploaded to TikTok by Ponce herself. However, she shut down all of her social media accounts shortly after The Gateway Pundit caught it and covered it on Monday.
Before being locked down, Ponce’s TikTok channel featured videos of her complaining about her mother wanting to gift a bible to her teenage nephew, threatening to start a blog “exposing” all the secrets of people who live in her town, and laughing about people in her community believing that she has a “hit list.”
There have been seemingly endless complaints about her behavior in local Facebook groups for a while.
In the video she uploaded of Beeman, Ponce demands to know why she is wearing the shirt, repeatedly calling her “f**king stupid” and accusing her of supporting a “racist.” She also demands to speak to the manager in an attempt to get her fired.
Jeanie remains remarkably calm throughout, explaining that Target employees may wear any red shirt and correcting Ponce by stating that Kirk is not racist. Ponce escalates by demanding to speak to a manager, declaring the shirt “unacceptable,” while Jeanie politely wishes her a nice day and walks away.
This woman on TikTok filmed herself harassing and cussing out an older lady at work for wearing a Charlie Kirk shirt
cc @JackPosobiec pic.twitter.com/4OwOuHzxmH
— Cassandra MacDonald (@CassandraRules) December 16, 2025
Beeman informed The Gateway Pundit that Target is standing by her, that her manager has since called to check on her, and that even with her massive fundraising haul, she may not leave her job because she loves everyone there so much. She expressed enormous gratitude to everyone who has supported her.
Her daughter also spoke to The Gateway Pundit, explaining that Monday was the 12th anniversary of her husband’s suicide, after a long health battle and oncoming dementia. She said the day is always very hard for her mother, so the timing of the outpouring of support for her was “uncanny.”
She also said that her mother is beloved in the community and that it hurt her to see the video because her mother is such a kind woman.
Speaking on video to local station Action News Now, Beeman’s infamous kindness was on full display as she said that she does not want to see Ponce lose her job, “because two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“I don’t think that that’s right,” Beeman said. “Two wrongs don’t make a right, you know, she wronged me, but I don’t want to wrong her, or I don’t want her – her wrong, because it’s not going to make it right. That was her opinion, she – but she’s the one that put it on Facebook or put it on – on that. So you know, but, I really wouldn’t want to see her, someone lose their job over it.”
NEW: Ms. Jeanie Beeman speaks out after being harassed over her Charlie Kirk shirt at Target and says she does not want her attacker fired.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right. She wronged me, but I don’t want to wrong her. I really wouldn’t want to see her lose her job over it.”… pic.twitter.com/FZumZoSjd9
— David J Harris Jr (@DavidJHarrisJr) December 18, 2025
The reporter appeared more interested in whether Beeman was violating the store’s policy on the shirt than in her victimization. The news outlet noted that Target’s dress code policy lists unacceptable attire, including “graphics, logos or slogans that advocate for or against a political party or candidate for political office, but does not include content that relates to terms and conditions of employment, or that is otherwise legally protected.”
Beeman explained that the shirt is allowed and “the STL, the one over the store, has seen me wearing it, you know, I’ve passed by him a lot of times and he never, you know, they never said anything to me.”
The CEO and President of Enloe Health, Mike Wiltermood, held a press conference on Wednesday asking people to stop calling and would not reveal if Ponce was still employed there. He claimed they have received over 6,000 calls and it has made it difficult for patients to get through to them.
Wiltermood described Ponce’s behavior as “abhorrent” and contrary to Enloe’s values of respect and civility, expressing sympathy for Beeman and commending her calm demeanor.
“We’re compelled, obviously, to respect people’s civil rights, and there is the law… We certainly encourage people to exercise their civil rights as they see fit, especially in their off-duty hours. But we also hope that people will have restrained civility as they do so,” he stated.
Wiltermood provided a dedicated phone number (530-332-9818) and email (share@enloe.org) for people to share their concerns.
A public statement was given by Enloe Health CEO Mike Wiltermood in Chico on Wednesday following employee Michelea Ponce’s posting of a video to Tik Tok this week that showed Ponce questioning and criticizing Target employee Jeanie Beeman over wearing a Charlie Kirk Freedom… pic.twitter.com/KOMGbLkydt
— Keith Jouganatos (@KeithJouganatos) December 17, 2025
Ponce provided a statement to Action News Now, which read in full:
“I want to take full responsibility for my actions and say clearly and sincerely that I was wrong. I behaved badly, and I regret it deeply.
I want to directly apologize to Jeannie. I am truly sorry for approaching you at your workplace and putting you in an uncomfortable and unfair position. You did not deserve that, and my behavior was wrong.
I also apologize to Jeannie’s family for the stress and attention my actions caused. I apologize to Target as her employer, I apologize to Enloe, and I apologize to the Chico community. I understand that what I did reflected poorly on myself and disrupted a sense of safety and respect that should exist in a workplace and in our community.
I did not handle the situation the way I should have. I allowed my emotions to take over instead of choosing restraint and empathy. That was my failure, and I own it.
I regret my actions, and I am genuinely sorry for the harm they caused. I wish I can go back and undo what happened, but I can acknowledge it honestly, learn from it, and commit to doing better moving forward.
Again, I apologize to Jeanie and I hope that she and the community can forgive me.”
Many pointed out that this does not match Ponce’s typical writing or speech style and believe it may have been written for her by a third party.
The Chico Police Department also released a statement saying they are dropping their investigation, after thousands of people called for Ponce to be charged with elder abuse.
A statement from the Chico Police Department regarding the Target Video states in part:
“…we have determined that the actions of the woman recording the video do not meet the threshold for criminal acts” pic.twitter.com/6e7X2ZU9KO
— Keith Jouganatos (@KeithJouganatos) December 17, 2025
The department’s statement read in full:
“The Chico Police Department was made aware of the video circulating social media on Tuesday, December 16 and immediately made proactive contact with Target. Upon confirmation that this incident occurred at the Chico location, we initiated an investigation.
As a law enforcement organization, we have an obligation to uphold the United States Constitution. Specific to this incident, the First Amendment provides various protections related to the freedom of expression. An individual’s ability to express themselves can be thought of as a spectrum- with free speech on one end and criminal conduct at the other end of the continuum.
After a careful review of the available facts and speaking with the Target employee involved, we have determined that the actions of the woman recording the video do not meet the threshold for criminal acts.
While we recognize that this topic is emotionally charged, our role is to evaluate whether or not any criminal conduct occurred during the incident.
As a result, there are no criminal charges appropriate to file in this case. However, this incident serves as a reminder of the longstanding principle that while individuals may have the right to say certain things, exercising discretion and consideration for others is always advisable.
In other words – just because you can say something, doesn’t mean you should.”
Stay tuned, there are more great things coming for Jeanie, and The Gateway Pundit will continue to provide updates as her story unfolds.
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