A video showing a physical fight at a Popeyes restaurant in Edgewood, Maryland went viral on social media as people flooded Popeyes restaurants seeking the chain’s popular chicken sandwich. That’s not the only viral video to emerge of altercations at Popeyes, either. You can see Popeyes chicken sandwich fight videos later in this article, but be aware that the language in some of them is graphic and disturbing.
The fights are very serious matters. At least one altercation became deadly, although that is not captured on video (at least as far as is known.) A man was stabbed to death after a dispute involving a line for a Popeye’s chicken sandwich in Oxon Hill, Maryland, police in Prince George’s County confirmed on November 4, 2019.
The chicken sandwich has been highly sought after since the chain stopped selling it in August 2019, bringing it back on Sunday, November 3, 2019. That created pent-up demand that boiled over in multiple jurisdictions.
Here’s what you need to know:
A Man Recorded a Video of a Popeyes Fight That Broke Out in Edgewood, Maryland
One widely circulated video shows a physical brawl behind rows of fried chicken. One man was carrying a stick or broom. “Oh my God,” said a man. The video showed people fighting in the kitchen. The video was posted on November 3, 2019 on the Twitter page of user @cheyyroberts, who wrote, “so this is what happened at the popeyes in edgewood today ?.” That video has been viewed more than 1.9 million times.
However, the video appears to have originated on the Facebook page of a man named Kenyan Southers, who wrote, “Ok yall not gonna believe this i was at the Popeyes in Edgewood gettn my daughter the famous chicken sandwich i mean it was packed .. this cashier was being real smart to people sayn all kinds of stuff to this lady ordering he called her stupid and her husband’/boyfriend jumped went over the calender and this happened .. oh yeah i still waited to get my sandwich ????…….” Southers posted the video on his Facebook page at 6:04 p.m. on November 4, 2019. He’s from Baltimore, Maryland. Numerous reports say the Edgewood in question is in Maryland.
Asked if he recorded the video, Southers responded on the comment thread, “i was so shocked that it elevated so quick .. besides the fact that the employee was so disrespectful out of his mouth to that young lady it was crazy when i saw everyone else recording i finally pulled mine out so my video left alot out!! But i showed what i have.. people wild these days ijs ? ??♂️”
He added, “My 1st time there (a relative) has been gettn on my nerves about trying that sandwich since they ran out the 1st time they ran out so i called myself doing a good deed lol and all this happens.. lol ?”
A Man Was Recorded Swearing at Employees in a Harlem, New York Popeyes
According to the New York Daily News, the above video shows a man in Harlem, New York who grew irate because employees at Popeyes were not getting him a chicken sandwich quickly enough.
“Bring me sandwiches out, man,” the man yells in the video, which was posted to Twitter by user @realitsdee1 on November 4, 2019 at 4 p.m.. “What the f—ck am I looking at,” the angry, unidentified man in the video shouts. The man shouts that he can see 30 chicken sandwiches, appearing to wonder why his is taking so long to get.
A Man Was Stabbed to Death in a Line for the Chicken Sandwich in Maryland, Reports Say
A 28-year-old man was stabbed to death after a dispute ignited in a line for a Popeyes’ chicken sandwich in Oxon Hill, Maryland, according to a spokesperson for Prince George’s County police. She said that the argument erupted because “somebody cut in front of the other” in line for the popular chicken sandwiches inside the restaurant.
The altercation spilled outside, at which point the victim was fatally stabbed. The suspect is at large.
The victim was named as Kevin Tyrell Davis. Police released photos of a suspect and person of interest on November 5:
Police Media Relations Director Jennifer Donelan said in a November 4, 2019 press conference that the case was a “homicide.” “When we lose a life in our county, it is devastating,” she said. “But today’s details…it’s just hard to put into words what happened here.”
At 7 p.m., police received a call for a stabbing at the Popeyes location in Oxon Hill. “There was an argument that began inside the restaurant behind me,” she said, “between two adult males. That argument spilled out into the street. And one male stabbed the other. The victim, a 28 year old man from our area, was rushed to a local hospital.”
Police have determined that preliminarily the death is “related to the release of the sandwich here at this restaurant. This individual was in line, a line specifically for the sale of the sandwich when another customer and he got into an altercation and that ended with the victim being stabbed outside of the business,” she said.