A viral video shows an anti-masker taunting a grocery store cashier who’s trying to ring up her items. It’s not the first time the anti-mask woman has recorded herself harassing frontline workers in California stores.
Twitter “Karen” sleuth @davenewworld_2 posted the video to Twitter where it had over 179,000 views by Monday.
The user also identified the anti-masker in the video as Andrea Hedstrom, an activist who named her son after California Gov. Gavin Newsom and then led an ill-fated charge to have him recalled. Hedstrom also filmed herself during an anti-mask tirade at a FoodMaxx location.
In the video, Hedstrom appears to be standing at a cash register waiting to be checked out. Another customer appears to yell at her to leave the store because she’s not wearing a mask. Hedstrom tells other customers that the cashier isn’t ringing her up and “tried to call the police.”
“By all means, do it,” Hedstrom says during what appears to be a Facebook live stream. “Do it. I have a medical exemption. I am protected by ADA and HIPAA. I have always shopped without a mask.”
She looks unbothered that the cashier has apparently called the police. After the employee doesn’t seem to be moved to ring her up, he says she’s “never going to shop” at the store again and that she’s going to talk to corporate.
“Unbelievable. You are violating HIPAA, which is what you’re doing,” she says, referring to the law that protects patients’ data from being shared without their knowledge or permission. It’s a common—and faulty—argument used by anti-maskers.
The cashier asks Hedstrom if she has paperwork for her exemption, but Hedstrom says the question itself is “a violation of HIPAA.” But the cashier isn’t asking about her medical history, nor is the cashier a medical professional.
“I will never shop here again,” Hedstrom continues. “I will tell my friends to avoid [the store].”
The cashier eventually starts ringing up Hedstrom’s items, but that doesn’t fully appease her. “You’re going to go viral,” she snaps at the cashier.
“Be sure to keep that nose covered,” she says before the end of the video.
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