Release the Karens! Entitled tyrants are the latest scourge plaguing coronavirus-ridden US

Viral video shows a mob of shoppers berating a woman for entering a Staten Island store without wearing a face mask. This and other examples show the tyranny of the ‘Karens’ which is sweeping the US, mid-coronavirus crisis.

Just one tweet of the Staten Island scene, which was originally posted on Facebook, has been viewed more than 6.2 million times since it was posted on May 25.

“This mess has revealed a LOT of people’s inner Karen,”quipped one Twitter user, referencing the wildly popular meme depicting the entitled middle-aged woman who bosses fellow citizens around with impunity and demands to speak to the manager. 

The episode even caught the attention of Westworld actor Jeffrey Wright, who weighed in with some sobering statistics from Staten Island, providing some context to the merciless, profanity-laced barrage from the ShopRite patrons. 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends people wear masks in public but it is still only a requirement in 12 states, including New York.

In New York, the state hardest-hit by coronavirus, residents are required to wear masks when they cannot social distance, including, “going to pharmacies and grocery stores,”according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene guidelines.

However, debate continues to rage, even among city authorities, as conflicting information and guidelines fuel frustration among an already anxious population.

Indeed, even arch-Karen and Hollywood paragon of virtue, Alyssa Milano, tweeted her approval of the baying mob, despite herself falling victim to the online cohort of ‘Karens’ for wearing an ostensibly useless knitted mask.

“I’ve never been prouder of growing up on Staten Island,” Milano tweeted.

However, the scourge of ‘the Karen’ is not limited to the enforcement of mask wearing, but has become a hallmark of the coronavirus lockdown across the US. 

Bark worse than her bite

In another viral incident, this time in New York’s Central Park, a woman called the police on a “black man” who allegedly asked her to keep her dog on a leash in accordance with park rules. 

Karen sees red at Red Lobster

Red Lobster fell afoul of the Karens on Mother’s Day after the restaurant’s online ordering system accepted more orders than they could fulfill. In one needlessly violent exchange at a York, Pennsylvania location, a woman was filmed physically and verbally abusing staff after being made to wait.

Say the line, Karen

In online memes, the Karen archetype is often quoted as demanding to see the manager, but life imitated art at Gelson's Market in Dana Point, California when a woman was refused entry to a store without wearing a mask.

“I want to speak to your manager,” the woman insists, uttering the infamous catchphrase of the Karen. “Where’s the regulations that state that?” the woman adds, when told that she would have to wear a mask to shop at the store. She even claims she has a medical condition which prevents her from wearing a mask, which she is not obligated to disclose. 

She even rejects an offer from the manager who said he would do her shopping for her, claiming that she wishes to buy private items she does not wish him to see – though, apparently she wouldn’t have this issue at the checkout.

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