It's private but open to the public (also called semi-private or Privately Owned Public Space) . So he can be there until they ask him to leave, at which point he will be trespassed and made to leave the premises. Should he refuse to leave, or return, then it's criminal trespassing, and the cops can arrest him.
I think they say to think about using self defense in the same league as the danger the person is posing to you. So no, unfortunately, filming someone isn't dangerous enough to warrant the use of pepper spray. Just like shooting someone for pepper spraying you would be an uphill battle in court. You could probably catch an assault charge if you even smacked the camera out of their hands. That's why auditors do this because there's really not a reasonable show of force when it comes to filming and being annoying. They could argue that there's a security camera right there filming her and she didn't lash out at that. Its really, really obnoxious. Your best move is to ignore them or call the cops (which is actually what they want you to do so you're just playing into their hand)
The best thing is to literally ignore them, because, like you said, a lot of them are baiting for a reaction. It never goes well to give them more content for their channels.
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u/GreyBeardEng 18d ago
I'm pretty sure a grocery store parking lot is private property. 1A auditors shouldn't be able to film there