July 3 (UPI) — A white woman who was recorded on video pointing a gun at a black woman and her daughters in a Michigan Chipotle parking lot has been charged, along with her husband, with felony assault, a local sheriff said.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said Jillian Wuestenberg, 32, and Eric Wuestenberg, 42, both of Clarkston, Mich., were taken into custody after an altercation that escalated in the restaurant parking lot around 6 p.m. in Orion Township. They were each held on $50,000 bond in Oakland County and told to give up their weapons.
Bouchard said both Wuestenbergs had concealed carry permits, but were charged with using their guns to threaten unarmed victims. If convicted, the couple face prison sentences up to four years.
Bouchard said the Wuestenbergs passed another family party in the entrance of Chipotle, and Jillian bumped into one of the victims, which caused an escalating shouting match.
In the parking lot Eric Wuestenberg exited his minivan and confronted the mother and three daughters, Bouchard said. The victims told police Eric Wuestenberg struck one of the family members with his vehicle as he backed out. The person was not seriously injured. Jillian Wuestenberg then exited the car pointing a handgun at the family
In the video, which was shared on Twitter and then deleted, Jillian Wuestenberg points a handgun at the camera and repeats, “Get away, get away,” while the victim says, “She got the gun on me.” No shots were fired and no one was injured, Bouchard said.
“My suggestion to friends and family,” Bouchard said, “is that if you can avoid a confrontation, do so. Nothing is worth escalating it to where someone gets hurt or killed.”
Michigan Sen. Rosemary Bayer, condemned the video, saying it’s “abhorrent to think that some in this country have such a sense of self-righteousness and entitlement” that the idea of pulling a gun out on an unarmed child and her mother is OK,” the Detroit Free Press reported.
Eric Wuestenberg, who was employed by Oakland University, was fired, Brian Bierley, university spokesman told the Free Press.
“We have seen the video and we deem his behavior unacceptable,” Bierley said. Wuestenberg “has been notified that his employment has been terminated.”
