The commonly accepted rule in the fashion world is that it takes three appearances for something to be considered a trend, and so by that definition we are jumping the gun a bit, but here at Promgirl News we can’t help but point out two entirely different stories out of the fashion and retail world that share one unusual connection: pepper spray. Anyone who is a news junkie or an internet meme addict has probably already seen a picture of Lieutenant John Pike of the UC Davis police force who became somewhat of an international celebrity (and not in a positive way) last week when he casually pepper sprayed a group of peacefully seated protesters all while being filmed by a few dozen cameras and camera phones. Since then Lt. Pike and his trusty pepper spray have been Photoshopped into every image from Michelangelo’s The Creation of Man to the signing of the U.S. Constitution. So it was that earlier this week Lt. Pike became a fashion statement with Etsy selling tee shirts depicting his image in the style of graffiti artist Banksy, but this time with his pepper spray can shooting butterflies. Bonus: The item is known as the “Casually Butterfly Everything” tee.
While many have been inspired to buy the tee as a message of peace and a fashion statement against brutality, it now appears that at least one woman in California was inspired by Lt. Pike to unleash some Black Friday brutality of her own. According to reports by CNN and The Los Angeles Times between 15 and 20 Los Angeles area Wal-Mart shoppers were pepper sprayed around 10:20 pm last night in the midst of a Black Friday door buster sale by another shopper who used the spray to clear competitors away from various electronics that she wanted to buy. While no one was seriously injured, a few people were taken to the hospital for bumps and bruises sustained while trying to flee the wrath of the pepper spray wielding woman. The most bizarre part of the entire incident has to be that the woman managed to check out with her items prior to police arriving at the store and as of the writing of this article this pepper spray bandit is still on the loose. Definitely one very bizarre case of life imitating fashion imitating life.
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