'Karen' denied entry into pet store for not wearing mask, calls 911 saying she has 'right to breathe O2'
It seems like there is no end to America's Karen antics. Recently, a woman called 911 after she was denied entry into a pet store in California as she wasn’t wearing a mask. Stating "religious exemption right and God-given right" as her reason for not wearing a mask, yet another Karen was caught on camera as she bickered with an employee of the pet store over the Civil Rights Act.
Aidan Bearpaw, who works at the store called Bone-N-Sones in Palm Springs, recorded the entire episode of the brawl with the woman and shared it on his personal Facebook page, according to New York Post. He captioned the six-minute-long video, "I've never had to deal with a karen calling 911 on me before all because I asked her to please wear a mask in the store."
The video sees Bearpaw telling the lady that she needs to wear a mask to be able to enter the store. He further notes that the store was nearing the closing time and that he’ll provide a "reasonable accommodation".
The woman however threatens to call 911 claiming that Bearpaw was "technically discriminating" her and that she wouldn't have a face-covering mask owing to health issues. She says, "I'll have a panic attack, I will freak out, I will have an anxiety attack." She also asks the store employee to accommodate her by "giving me an hour at the end of every day, an hour at the beginning of the day. There is no one in the store."
When Bearpaw says, "There's me in the store," she snaps back saying, So you stand 7,000 feet away from me!" Once again, when he tries to calm her down by saying, “Ma'am, I’m just trying to do my job." The woman snaps at him once again, "And I’m trying to make sure that I have rights. You’ll make sure to hear that in the end, you’re the one who will be cited, not me."
She later dials 911 and tells the dispatcher, "As per the 1964 Civil Rights Act, I cannot be discriminated against. I do have a right to be able to breathe O2, not CO2, and I’m being discriminated against right now at a store." She adds, "I'm being told I need to wear a mask even though I have a religious exemption right and a God-given right to be able to breathe O2 and not CO… medical exemption too."
However, the dispatcher tells the woman that wearing a face-covering mask inside a store is mandatory and says that the store has "right to refuse service" before informing the woman that they are sending out an officer to the location. The woman tells the dispatcher that she's leaving and heads towards her car saying she's "right".
Bearpaw reportedly told Storyful the next day that the woman "dispatched police" on him after feeling the public backlash. He even expressed that his bosses were furious about the incident and said, "It was very possible I was going to be fired."
However, Bones-N-Scones' consulting general manager spoke in favor of Bearpaw in an interview with KESQ and issued a statement saying, "I'm biased, but it's a shining example of how just doing what's right, standing your ground, overcomes all of those things. Aidan won for us that day, he didn't just want it for Bone-N-Scones. He won for the city of Palm Springs, but United States and for humanity in general."