Formerly homeless YouTuber Jeremiah Payne released a video on Saturday demanding his fans help him shut down the Cash America Pawn location on Providence Boulevard in Clarksville, Tennessee, after the shop refused to let his mother use their employee bathroom.
It’s unclear when the clip was filmed as Payne released it as a produced video and not a livestream to his channel. In the 90-second video, he said that he and his family were at a 24-7 Laundromat that did not have a bathroom. His 70-year-old mother went over to the Cash America location to use the bathroom and was denied service.
According to Payne, his mother was denied service by the clerk on duty as the bathrooms were no longer publicly accessible due to problems with shoplifters. Payne’s mother’s proposal that the clerk observe her entering and exiting the bathroom to assure them that she did not steal merchandise was denied as the clerk said, “We can’t do that.”
Jeremiah Payne, who released the video about 30 minutes before the store was set to close on Saturday, demanded his fans call the store and “get it shut down immediately.” He then gave out the location of the store, but did not give out the phone number to the store.
The highly irritated YouTuber highlighted that his mother was 70 years old multiple times in his call to action and said that their denial reflected badly on the store’s demeanor.
Observers noted that there was a gas station in view of the pawn shop that seemed to be a short walk away. Most gas stations have public restrooms, or restrooms available upon request, unlike a private store such as a pawn shop where allowing customers to use the bathrooms may cause a significant risk of theft.
Payne would later post that the pawn shop’s actions were illegal under Tennessee’s Restroom Access Act, which would force the pawn shop to allow his mother to use the bathroom if she had one of a list of medical conditions covered by the act.
The act states, “Eligible medical condition” means Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, any other inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or any other medical condition that requires immediate access to a toilet facility.”
Payne did not state if his mother had any of the conditions that would always make her eligible for emergency use of the bathrooms. He also did not contact Clarksville police to report the violation of the act.
The YouTuber also ignored the portion of the act that lists the reasons why a business with an employee only bathroom would be required to allow the use of the facilities in an emergency.
With five criteria listed, and a requirement that all portions must be met, section four states, “The employee toilet facility is not located in an area where providing access would create an obvious health or safety risk to the customer or an obvious security risk to the retail establishment.”
As the employee noted that there was a security risk, Payne’s call to action to “have them shut down” may result in no action taken against the establishment.
Payne’s video has been seen 155 times since posting.
The Cash America Pawn location closed at its normal 5:30PM closing time on Saturday and is closed on Sundays.
It is unclear if Payne will follow up with new protests against the shop when it reopens on Monday.
