Ijeoma Ukenta/YouTube Abigail Elphick is the New Jersey woman dubbed the "Victoria's Secret Karen" after an incident caught on now-viral video at the Short Hills Mall.
Abigail Elphick is the New Jersey woman dubbed the “Victoria’s Secret Karen.” Video of an incident involving her at the Short Hills Mall has gone viral. The 25-year-old woman was seen on video charging at a Black woman, Ijeoma Ukenta, and then claiming to be the victim. Ukenta posted videos of the incident on TikTok and YouTube.
On Twitter, some people criticized the Millburn Police Department and mall security for not doing more to protect Ukenta. “There were many egregious violations of your rights and overall well being by both Millburn Police Department and Short Hills Mall security. Abigail Elphick should have been arrested {and still needs to be arrested} and at the very least charged with assault & attempted larceny,” wrote one Twitter user.
NJ.com reported that the incident started when Ukenta, 38, of Newark asked Elphick to move six feet away. At one point, Elphick appears to raise her hand toward Ukenta in the video. The police report says this caused Elphick “to go into a panic attack, at which time she followed her to get her to stop videotaping her,” according to the news site. Police did not make an arrest.
“Pending further review, the Millburn Police Department believes our officers acted professionally and capably in defusing the situation and restoring calm and order,” the police statement to NJ.com says.
“I was banned off Tik Tok however everyone else was allowed to tell my story. I’m traumatized,” Ukenta wrote on Twitter.
Victoria’s Secret released a statement that said “associate and customer safety is our top priority and we are committed to creating a safe and welcoming environment for all. The video taken in our store is unsettling and we have initiated a full investigation. Our associated followed our protocols and immediately called our Emergency Operations Center as well as mall security for support during the altercation between our customers. We are dedicated to continuing this critical conversation and demonstrating our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through our actions and our words.”
Here’s what you need to know about “Victoria’s Secret Karen” Abigail Elphick:
1. Elphick Can Be Seen in the Videos Charging at Ukenta & Then Crying & Dropping to the Floor, Saying ‘Get Her Away From Me’ & Asking Not to Be Recorded
The series of videos start with Elphick charging at Ukenta and trying to hit her and the camera. She backs off as Ukenta says, “Oh my God. Oh my God. Do you see this? Oh my God. I never thought nothing like this would happen to me. She tried to run and hit.” Elphick then crouches down, holding her head in her hands crying and claims, “No I didn’t.” She says, “I don’t want to be recorded.”
Ukenta says to other customers and workers, “Did you see that? … Karen had a breakdown. She tried to hit me.” Elphick again claims she didn’t try to hit Ukenta and says, “I don’t want to be recorded,” while crying. As Elphick continues crying, Ukenta, holding a coupon up to the camera, says, “I just tried to came to get my free panties.” Elphick then cries out, “Why aren’t you guys defending me? I just don’t want to be recorded.”
Elphick then screams and yells, “Don’t record my mental breakdown please. Please, please, please.”
The second video starts with Elphick lying on the ground, screaming and kicking her feet. “She’s recording me. Tell her to stop,” she screeches.
“You keep lying saying I’m threatening you so I’m recording to protect myself,” Ukenta responds. She doesn’t appear to be very close to Elphick.
Classmates.comAbigail Elphick.
The video shows Elphick screaming and running toward Ukenta, who was recording the scene. Ukenta kept repeating that she was worried the police would believe Elphick if she claimed Ukenta attacked her, when the video shows Elphick charging at Ukenta, and Ukenta doing nothing but recording the scene.
“She’s trying to attack me, no no no,” Ukenta says at one point. “Once the law gets here, who are they going to believe?” She says she is worried the police would believe Elphick over Ukenta because Elphick is white and Ukenta is Black.
Elphick, who makes a phone call at one point, screeches, “Stop her from recording. … She’s recording my mental breakdown. … My heart’s racing.”
Ukenta narrates, “She’s lying on the phone. I don’t give a f*** about her being sick. I’m worried about me. This is real. This is really happening to me. She is on the phone with the police for me and she was chasing me around the d*** store.”
At another point, Ukenta says, “I just came to get a free panty that’s all. … This lady chasing me. She’s calling the police on me now. I can’t believe security is not here. This is how Black people be dying. See what these people do? They call the police and they call in a panic and tell police you’re doing something to them when she clearly was chasing me around the store.”
She also says: “I don’t want to turn my back on this white lady, I’m sorry. She is crazy. Did you see her just trying to charge me again? That’s the third time.” The video does not show Ukenta attacking or making any move toward Elphick.
2. Ukenta Has Received More Than $38,000 to a GoFundMe Campaign She Set Up After Posting the Video
Ukenta set up a GoFundMe page that had raised more than $38,000 as of July 13, 2021, a day after it was created.
“I am a Black Muslimah Nigerian AM and I was treated like it was 1920 in Short Hills Mall. I was assaulted and harassed by a white woman and and nothing was done by security nor the police,” she wrote on the page.
“I’m looking to hire me an excellent attorney who can help me bring light to this wrong. All videos and updates on the situation are on my YouTube channel: Mama Africa Muslimah. I was kicked off a tiktok for posting what happened to me and they let someone else post and get millions and millions of views however they deleted 2 of my accounts. … One that I have for my Garden which was my original account and another 1 that I created after they deleted my main account. I have been wronged Abigail Elphick (Karen in my videos,) Short Hills Mall security, Millburn Police Department, and most of all humanity. Please help me!”
3. Elphick Told Officers She Wanted the Video Recorded by Ukenta to Be Deleted Because She Was Worried About Her Job, But Police Wrote That No ‘Arrestable Crime…Had Been Committed’
In one video, Ukenta read from what she said was a police report:
I spoke with ‘miss crazy lady’ and advised her that I spoke to the store employee and that they corresponded that what Miss Ukenta had said happened. Miss Elphick seemed to acknowledge that she was wrong, saying she was concerned about losing her job and apartment if the video posted online. She was having a panic attack about the videotaping. I advised her that Miss Ukenta has a right to videotape. I asked her several times if she was alright and if she needed an ambulance. And she declined repeatedly. She kept expressing her concern about her job and apartment. She finally stated that she was going home, and I asked if she would be OK to drive and she says she was. At this time, Ms. Elphick left the mall voluntarily with mall security.
Ukenta says in a video update, “So, I see everyone asking me for an update. I am at the police station. I have the police report, which is somewhat true, but really, really long. I’m happy I did record because even the officers stated that I only showed him the video of her laying on the floor when I showed him. Mind you, they took her statement first because, of course, she called the police. And she completely lied. She’s trying to say I started videotaping her causing her to have a panic attack, at which time she followed me to try to get me to stop recording.”
She adds:
So, I’m filing the complaint against the two officers that responded. I didn’t feel protected. I’m also filing a complaint against the mall security. Victoria’s Secret, in my opinion … like what do we expect them? Grab this woman? The manager even sent somebody to walk down to get security because they were taking too long. So , I don’t really have any issues with them … not as of yet. Now if they give us problems getting the video, then we’ll talk about that. That’ll be another story.
“The Internal Affairs Division is now investigating the matter to evaluate how the officers conducted themselves,” the police department said in a statement to NJ.com.
“The second woman who was videoing much of the incident asked the officers to remove the first woman from the mall because she felt threatened,” NJ.com described the police report as saying. “The officers explained that they did not have the authority to do that because they had no indication that an arrestable offense or crime had been committed.”
Heavy has contacted Millburn police to get their response as well as the police reports, and both will be added to this story if they are received.
4. Elphick Says She Has Worked as a Teacher’s Assistant, but the Cedar Grove School District Says She Is Not an Employee There
Classmates.comAbigail Elphick.
Elphick posted a short biography on a site matching people who have a colostomy. In it, she said she is a teacher’s aide. “My name is Abby Elphick,” she wrote.
“I was diagnosed with chronic constipation and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction. I am a 24 year old Female that has a colostomy. I am a paraprofessional/ teacher’s aide working with children. I love walking outside, shopping, going out to eat at restaurants! I want to feel comfortable with people that have an ostomy just like me to know that I’m not alone!”
Ijeoma Ukenta/YouTubeAbigail Elphick in a screenshot from the viral video.
Online records show she has ties to Cedar Grove and Newark, New Jersey. The Cedar Grove School District has denied she is an employee there, writing in a note on the top of its home page, “The individual involved at the Mall at Short Hills that took place on July 11, 2021 is not and has never been employed by the Cedar Grove Board of Education.”
Classmates.comAbigail Elphick.
Elphick wrote on a Classmates.com profile, “I am 24 going to school to become a Child Development Associate teaching preschool aged students. I graduated in June of 2014 at Cedar Grove High School when I was 18.”
She claimed on the profile, “Gotten straight As” and “written a book.”
The Verona-Cedar Grove Times mentioned Elphick in a 2013 feature story about her developmentally disabled brother and indicated that he had a colostomy. Elphick is shown in a photo with her brother and parents, Kim and Andrew Elphick.
No state professional license comes up for Elphick in the New Jersey state database.
5. Elphick Is Not Related to a Secaucus Police Lieutenant Who Shares the Same Last Name, Despite Viral Social Media Posts Claiming She Is the Daughter of a Cop
Ijeoma Ukenta/YouTubeAbigail Elphick in a screenshot from the viral video.
A police lieutenant created a Twitter account just to counter what she wrote were false accusations that Elphick is related to her.
“Incorrect. This is me and I do not have children. I also have no idea who Abigail is,” she wrote in response to one such claim on Twitter.
The police lieutenant, named Kim Elphick, added, “Also, this incident occurred in the Short Hills Mall which is covered by Millburn Police Department. Secaucus has no relevance to this case whatsoever besides a last name.”
She added, “Because I’m the officer that everyone is saying that is my daughter. I don’t have children and have no idea who Abigail is. Coincidentally just have the same name.”
She concluded, “I got personal messages about what was being posted. I created this account to address it. It spread too quickly for me to get ahead of it to address. Feel free to call the agency tomorrow and I’ll be more than happy to verify my identity.”
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