Man In Viral Video Destroying Beer At Walmart Charged With Exposing Himself

The man seen in a viral video destroying cases of beer at a Walmart in Topeka, Kansas has been charged with felony battery, assault and exposing his genitals in public, according to Topeka Police. The video has been watched over 5 million times.

The incident happened on April 17, 2023 around 9:00 p.m local time at the Walmart located at 1501 SW Wanamaker Rd., according to police.

“Officers learned that an adult male, identified as J Dustin D. Cain, 44, of Topeka, was in the store throwing things at people,” Topeka Police told me in an email Tuesday afternoon.

The video, which has gone viral on Twitter and TikTok, shows Cain destroying cases of Busch beer, though a motive hasn’t been released. Many on social media speculated it may have had something to do with the current boycott of Anheuser-Busch products, led by conservatives upset that a trans influencer posted a video promoting Bud Light.

And while some online said Cain was “destroying the wrong beer,” Busch Light is also made by Anheuser-Busch.

The video ends by showing Cain being led away by officers and the aftermath of the mess he allegedly made. Horrified onlookers appear perplexed by the entire scene.

“Cain was later arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on the following charges: Criminal damage to property; Felony Battery; Physical contact in rude, insulting, angry manner, and Assault,” Topeka Police said in an emailed statement.

Cain was also charged with, “Lewd and lascivious; Exposing sex organs to another =>16,” according to police.

It’s not clear if Cain allegedly exposed himself at the Walmart or at some other point before the cops picked him up. The police also didn’t release a motive for the destruction.

“It is unclear at this time why he was causing the disturbance and criminal damage to the store. Several of the witnesses and victims had left prior to the officers arriving at the scene. This is all the information we can provide for now,” Topeka Police said in a statement.

Conservatives have called for a boycott of Anheuser-Busch products after Dylan Mulvaney, a trans woman hated by many conservatives simply for being trans, was sent some beer cans featuring her face on the label. The special label was not widely produced and was only sent to Mulvaney as a promo for her video.

A video that went viral last week claimed people were steamrolling over thousands of cases of Bud Light as part of the boycott, but that turned out to be incorrect. The cases of American beer were being destroyed by local government authorities in Mexico after it had been confiscated at the U.S.-Mexico during the pandemic.

Other videos have shown people destroying their own Bud Light, including one from Kid Rock. The musician shot his own beer with a high-powered rifle in a video that’s been seen over 52 million times on Twitter alone.

Anheuser-Busch has previously acknowledged that the Bud Light brand had been suffering in recent years, and sought to “evolve and elevate” the beer to a new audience.

“What does evolve and elevate mean? It means inclusivity. It means shifting the tone,” Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s vice president of marketing, recently said on a podcast, according to the Washington Post.

But after the conservative backlash, Anheuser-Busch sought to calm things through a statement that only seemed to anger everyone.

“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said in a public statement on April 14.

“Moving forward, I will continue to work tirelessly to bring great beers to consumers across our nation,” Whitworth also said.

It’s not clear if Cain is still in jail over the incident in Walmart or has been released on bail. I’ll update this article if I learn more.