A white woman dubbed ‘Costco Karen’ was filmed throwing a furious tantrum in the superstore after she was asked to put on a face mask, where she on the floor declaring, ‘I have constitutional rights’.
Shocking video of the confrontation, believed to have unfolded at the returns desk of a Costco in Hillsboro, Oregon, shows an employee asking an older woman to wear a mask in the store to follow its coronavirus policy.
The older white woman had a face mask dangling from one ear but refused to put it on completely to cover her mouth.
‘You just have to tell me that you have one. Well, then you have to wear it. You have to wear your mask in public. This is private property,’ the female employee said in the video posted on June 30.
‘I am not a member of Costco,’ the woman is heard snapping back.
A white woman has been dubbed ‘Costco Karen’ (right) after she was filmed throwing a furious tantrum in the superstore after she was asked to wear a face mask and refused to. Costco has a store policy mandating all employees and customers wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19
Video of the confrontation which took place in a Hillsboro, Oregon Costco was shared on Facebook on June 30. The woman (right) had a face mask dangling from one ear but she refused to put it on fully to cover her mouth
The clip shows an employee ask the woman to put on a face mask to follow store policy but she became angry and said, ‘I will not’ and sat on the ground refusing to leave until she was helped
‘Want me to get that taken care of for you? Well, then you’re going to have to put your mask on,’ the employee says.
‘I will not,’ the woman says curtly, adding the mask requirement is ‘your problem’.
‘Well then come back another time,’ the employee says.
‘I want to speak to your boss,’ the outraged woman replies.
‘He’s gonna require the same. If you want to step outside here I’ll have him come meet you outside. You need to do that it’s our policy. We’re going to walk outside,’ the employee says.
The woman is heard admitting that she does not have a medical condition that makes it unsafe for her to wear a mask.
But instead of following the employee, the outraged woman plops onto the floor and sits cross legged in a sit-in protest.
The woman pictured sitting on the floor of the store as her form of protest as the employee calls for the manager to help out
It’s not clear what the woman entered the store for. She told the female employee that she was not a Costco member
‘I am an American. I have constitutional rights!’ she says angrily before the camera cuts off
The employee tries to help her saying: ‘Can I get you a chair outside? There’s a place to sit. Want me to help you up?’
Instead the woman gets up and sits in another place on the main floor of the store, further away from shoppers, refusing to leave the store.
People leaving the store with their carts are seen maneuvering around the woman.
At the end of the clip the manager is seen walking towards her saying: ‘Hello what can I do for you?’
It’s not clear what she wanted to do in store, but the manager repeatedly asked if she had a membership to the store.
Costco initiated a policy requiring all customers to wear face masks, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization say is an effective way to reduce the spread of the contagious COVID-19
Costco’s policy mandating customers wear masks above
At one point the woman retorts: ‘I’m not leaving. Do you want to carry me?’
‘I am an American. I have constitutional rights!’ she says angrily before the camera cuts off.
Costco initiated a policy requiring all customers to wear face masks which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization say is an effective way to reduce the spread of the contagious COVID-19.
The video comes as the US is seeing a startling resurgence of cases in some states after reopening and lifting coronavirus lockdown orders.
As of July 2 there are over 9,200 cases of COVID-19 in Oregon and and over 200 deaths.
Nationally there are over 2.8million coronavirus cases and over 129,000 deaths fatalities from the deadly virus.