Woman in Viral Video Defends Angry Michaels Rant

Nearly two months after a video of her angry outburst at a Chicago Michaels store went viral, a Lakeview woman is standing behind what some viewers have described as a racist tirade.

Jennifer Boyle, 29, was filmed lashing out at staff – at one point calling a black employee “an animal” – and at least one other Michaels customer, who released video of the incident online.

In an interview that aired Tuesday, Boyle told NBC Chicago that the incident was not about race, asserting that her anger stemmed from poor customer service. She claimed a cashier was rude to her as she attempted to purchase Christmas decorations.

“Without greeting me or saying anything to me, the cashier started telling me, ‘No, no, no, I don’t have bags to put your things in,’” Boyle said. “I was kind of confused and I told her, ‘There’s brown paper bags right behind you … we can make it work.’”

The cashier then told Boyle she would have to buy reusable bags for her items, but Boyle refused, she told the network. “She started holding up the bags and screaming at me,” said Boyle, who also claimed that an employee “mumbled that she must have voted for Donald Trump," according to NBC.

After the Michaels rant went viral, a second video was released showing Boyle swearing at employees at a Peet’s Coffee shop in Boystown, prompting some viewers to brand her a homophobe.

Despite the videotaped tirades, “There’s not one bone in my body that’s racist or homophobic,” said Boyle, who claims she was the victim of discrimination in both incidents.

Since the videos were released, Boyle said she’s received death threats, and last month, she accused a man of attacking her in a Lakeview apartment building. Boyle told police that the man pushed her as they both entered the building and called her a "racist a-- b---h w—re,” according to DNAinfo. The case was dismissed after Boyle failed to show up in court.

A GoFundMe campaign created by the woman who filmed the Michaels video has raised more than $32,000 for the store manager.