Home Depot 'Karen' refuses to wear mask due to 'White power', threatens to spit on customer for confronting her
MCHENRY, ILLINOIS: An Illinois 'Karen' has been arrested and charged after a video showed her removing her face mask at a local store and then attacking another customer who raised her concerns. Deputies from the McHenry Police Department arrested Teri A Hill, 54, following an altercation at a Home Depot on 2461 N Richmond Road over a "disagreement about facial coverings" on Friday, July 3, reports Northwest Herald.
The video of the "disagreement" was posted on Facebook by Johnsburg resident Sydney Waters, who explained in a detailed post how she had intervened after she saw Hill removing her face mask, and berating store employees because other customers were not wearing theirs. She said she confronted Hill and told her, "Ma'am, if you’re going to demand other folks keep their masks on it’s important you do too," at which point the 54-year-old lost her temper and threatened to cough on her.
"[She] told me I wasn't going to tell her what to f**king do," Waters wrote. "Then she took her mask all the way off, put it in her pocket and let me know she was going to spit & cough on me. After threatening to give me a deadly virus, she flipped me off & swung so her face was protected." In the video, Waters can be heard telling Hill that she was being "disrespectful" to everyone in the store and that her "entitlement is disgusting," both of which she readily agrees with before replying, "Yes I am entitled. I'm White, I'm a woman."
When Waters questioned her further and asked her what being White had to do with her getting her way, Hill responded, "Because I’m a White woman. That’s what happens, I believe in White power." Waters said, at this point, Hill swung at her and took off her face mask as they struggled on the ground. "Fist fighting. Ripping my hair out and scratching. Trying to get me sick. And lord knows what would have spewed out of this racist humans mouth if I wasn’t White," she wrote.
She told the Northwest Herald that the fight left her with bruises, but nothing serious enough to require immediate medical attention. "I’m not a spring chicken anymore – I have bruises everywhere. My shoulder is hurt. Nothing’s broken," she said. Her Facebook post, on the other hand, quickly went viral, with many lauding her for standing up to the 'Karen.' "Props to you for not knocking her out. What a terrible waste of a human," one person commented. "She threatened you with a deadly virus. Call the police have her removed. Also by saying that she would spit an cough on you is a terrorist act...." another wrote.
Hill was arrested at the scene after police collected independent witness statements and viewed the video footage taken of the fight. She is facing charges of battery and disorderly conduct and is expected to make her first court appearance on August 19. Waters has not been cited or charged in connection to the incident and said she bought her house plants and went back home.