Trader Joe's 'Karen' says she received permission to shop without mask
Woman says breathing problem keeps her from being able to wear face masks
A California woman caught on viral video cursing and screaming at Trader Joe’s shoppers after someone confronted her for refusing to wear a face mask has spoken out against the incident and said she sought – and received – permission from a store manager before shopping without a mask, according to a recent report.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told KABC-TV Los Angeles on Sunday that a manager at one of the North Hollywood locations told her it would be OK – for only that day – for her to shop there without a face covering.
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But shortly after the woman began shopping, a man started berating her, she said.
“Right away, he started using obscenities at me, saying, 'F you'… the c-word, 'Wear your f-ing mask,'” she told the outlet. “I did what any normal human being, a woman, would do if she was being harassed by a man, not knowing if he’s a crazy man.”
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She told the outlet, and also said during her caught-on-video tirade, that she suffers from a breathing problem that makes it hard for her to wear the masks.
Footage of the woman inside the Trader Joe’s, posted to Twitter by user D. Giles, went viral over the weekend showing the woman’s expletive-laced tirade through part of the store, during which time she shouts that the people in the store were “f------ Democratic pigs.”
WARNING: THIS FOOTAGE CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
As she passes the person recording the video, she yells into the camera that a man harassed her because she wasn’t wearing a mask.
“I have a breathing problem. My doctor would not let me wear a mask," she says. "So, anyone harassing me to wear a mask, you guys are violating federal law, you get that?”
When asked by KABC-7, the woman would not disclose any more information about her breathing problem. She told the outlet she was yelling “in self-defense.”
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"Unlike whatever lies they are putting out there, I had no political agenda," she said. "I had nothing. They might use whatever else I said later in my anger, it doesn't matter. What happened to me should not be happening to anyone else.”
A Trader Joe’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.
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