RED BARON WORKER PRANKED ON CAMERA GETS $100K FUNDRAISER

A GoFundMe for a Red Baron employee known online only as Walt Z has raised more than $100,000, after a prankster filmed himself pretending to steal money from the worker using a fake Apple Pay sound. The fundraiser was started by a stranger named Luke Oakenshield, who says he does not know the man, after the video went viral and the employee lost his temper on camera, Newsweek reported.

In the clip, the person filming asks the employee what time it is, then holds his phone up to the worker’s phone. The Apple Pay transaction sound plays. Viewers can tell it was pre-recorded, but the employee could not.

“Thank you, bro, I just took $10,” the person filming says.

The employee told him, “Don’t mess with me right now, OK?” He stayed calm at first, asked if he was being recorded and said he would report the guy. Then, as the filmer headed out of the store, he said, “Thank you for the $20.” A person with him said, “You need to stop.”

That’s when the worker snapped. “It’s not a joke to me, OK? My life is hard enough as it is,” he said.

He went on: “I’ve got kids at home that went to bed without me right now. I was supposed to be at home an hour ago, but I’m still out here working. Now I’m probably gonna get kicked out of the store because of you. Not funny.”

When the filmer said he was sorry, the employee answered: “You’re not sorry, because you’ve got a smug look on your face. And you’re probably making money off of this. And I can’t even pay my goddamn mortgage. And I’ve got four kids at home.”

The internet sided with him fast. Texas Republican precinct chair Sarah Fields wrote “This broke me” in a post viewed 3.5 million times. The account AmericanPapaBear wrote on X, “Leave the working man alone. He’s got enough on his plate,” and that post was viewed 1.9 million times.

Commentators Benny Johnson and Collin Rugg shared the fundraiser. Oakenshield wrote in its description that it is “about standing up for a working person who is busting their butt and should not have to fear losing stability because someone wanted content and clicks.”

The money came in quickly. Dexerto reported the fundraiser had passed $20,000 from 170 donations on October 28, 2026, and Oakenshield said he had tracked down the employee and video-chatted with him. By October 29, 2026, it was past $100,000.

A post on the Reddit thread r/RedBaronWorker, which was created to find the man, said he and his family are requesting privacy and are “blown away” by the response.

Oakenshield posted an update, as quoted by Dexerto: “Walt Z out of Michigan sends a heartfelt thank you, and is absolutely blown away by how much people have cared over this. GoFundMe is taking the lead in transferring all of this to him. You’re all Rockstars, and it shows.”