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Illinois 'Karen' prevents Black cyclist from using public pier, demands a pass: 'Maybe you want to kill me?'

The woman was taken into custody at the pier and released on bond. She was charged with battery

WINNETKA, ILLINOIS: A woman was arrested in Winnetka, a village in Illinois, after a confrontation with an African-American man and two other women, insisting that they needed passes to walk on a public pier. Footage of the exchange has gone viral on social media between Otis Campbell, of Skokie, and Irene Donoshaytis, of Northfield. The former started recording Donoshaytis, who has been branded a "Karen" by the Internet, after the woman claimed on Sunday, August 16, that a public pier at Tower Road Park was accessible solely to Winnetka residents, but a nearby staffer corrected her. 

“So to get into the beach itself, to walk on the beach, you do have to have a pass,” the female staffer says. “But to walk up and down this driveway and onto the pier, you don’t need a pass.” Campbell, who had been riding his bike, then interrupted Donoshaytis's response to the staffer, asking, “So it means it’s public?” The staffer confirms that it was. 

But Donoshaytis refused to back down. “No, it’s not public,” she replied. “It’s for people who live in Winnetka, and we pay for it.” 

An amused Campbell reiterated that the staffer “didn’t say that” before Donoshaytis asked the staffer for her name and told her to call her manager. As Campbell chuckled at the woman's behavior, Donoshaytis snapped at him, saying, “It’s not so funny." He responds by saying he’s “dying” of laughter.

“You crazy? Maybe you want to kill me?” Donoshaytis continued, to which Campbell said, “Not at all, nope. Why would I want to kill you? Is it because I’m black?” “Yes,” Donoshaytis replied. She also went onto call Campbell "idiot'' and "stupid." When he warned her that she was “about to go viral” over the incident, she appears to charge at him and attempt to grab his phone out of his hands. Campbell moves out of her reach, telling her, "Don't touch me, b***h."

Here is the video:

In a separate video, shot by someone else, the woman is seen telling Campbell, "We live in America,'' to which Campbell points out that she "wasn't even American", seemingly referring to her accent. Before storming off from the scene, the woman tells Campbell that people like him were always living in their past. 

Campbell told Chicago Tribune that after ending a 15-mile bicycle ride with his cousin and a friend, they had sat down at the bottom of the pier to rest when the confrontation took place. “It’s not a short ride. We were exhausted,” Campbell said. “She decides to take it upon herself and come over to me and our group and ask, ‘Where are your passes?’ We’re like, ‘What are you talking about? We don’t even know who you are. You’re not a staff member.' She says, ‘This is America. This is America, you can’t do this. I’m from Winnetka. You need to go back where you’re from.'"

Winnetka Police Chief Marc Hornstein said that Donoshaytis was taken into custody at the pier and released on bond. She was charged with battery. “A verbal dispute turned physical over what appeared to be a disagreement of the need for a Winnetka beach pass,” Dep. Chief Brian O’Connell said.