After a viral video of her lashing out at staff and shoppers at Trader’s Joes in North Hollywood went viral online, the woman who attempted to go grocery shopping without a mask is speaking out on the incident.
The woman who is concealing her identity, admits she lost it, according to FOX 11.
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“I am a human being, I felt helpless,” she told FOX 11.
According to the report, the woman says she always calls stores before visiting to explain that due to her medical condition she is unable to breathe through her nose and can’t wear a mask.
She says she thought she called the North Hollywood Trader Joe’s, but she actually dialed the Toluca Lake location and spoke to a manager there who she says approved everything and told her to come on in, FOX 11 reports.
Staff at the Toluca Lake store confirmed to FOX 11 that they did receive a call from her.
When she arrived at the North Hollywood location, she met with the manager of that store and was permitted to shop without wearing a mask.
Despite getting the OK from the store manager, the woman was shamed by another customer.
According to the woman, the customer was aggressive towards her which is why she called for staff to step in.
This is when Durell Giles began recording the now-viral video of the confrontation between the woman and Trader Joe’s staff.
Ya’ll I’ve found Karen of the San Fernando Valley #karen #KarensGoneWild #TraderJoes #noho #northhollywood #grandopening #coronaviris #COVID19 Follow this thread pic.twitter.com/V0vkAMgkHi
— D. Giles (@ItsRellzWorld) June 27, 2020
“They made it look like I am this crazy person and yes I did throw my basket to the ground and not anybody,” she said.
According to FOX 11, the woman says she felt helpless in the situation and reacted off of those feelings.
Putting her medical issues aside, the woman also expressed strong feelings about her political right to not wear a mask.
In a second video posted by Giles, the woman can be heard yelling that mask-wearers are Democratic.
— D. Giles (@ItsRellzWorld) June 27, 2020
Giles uploaded three separate videos of the incident to his Twitter account.
As of Monday, the videos have more than 25 million total views.