Poll: Did Somerset Collection Handle Breastfeeding Flash Mob Appropriately?

On Sunday afternoon, security and management at before it could begin, telling event organizer Mary Napoli that she could not hold a flash mob of any kind at the mall.

But when Napoli asked, "So, you don't allow nursing in the mall?" a mall manager replied: "Not in public, we don't."

The Somerset Collection later issued a statement saying the mall does allow breastfeeding, though it does not allow "demonstrating or protesting of any kind, as we are private property."

On Facebook and Patch, 's reaction to the breastfeeding flash mob has sparked a debate that has garnered support both for Napoli and other nursing moms as well as support for the mall's decision to stop the flash mob.

"How dare they think they have the right to 'allow' or 'disallow' a mother to feed her child?" Kristen Kurze Woudstra commented. "Shame on you, Somerset Collection."

"Breast feeding should be permitted. Flash mob, no. Somerset collection is a business venue not a public forum for political statements," Katie Taylor Mowrey wrote on Facebook. "You don't have a right to plan a public display on someone else's private property."

"Organizing a 'flash mob' and breastfeeding just because, is wrong," Jennie Carleton commented in part. "If we want to gain respect of (others), do not do this. Feeding your child while you are out shopping or whatever is one thing, organizing a flash mob is another."

"It really is just simply a (woman) feeding her baby. It's as natural as it gets," Terri Mielock-Williams wrote on Facebook. "Now the flash mob... not sure Somerset would be the right choice."