A white woman has been fired after a viral video showed her pulling a gun on a Black couple for having a picnic without a reservation at a Kampgrounds of America location, the Washington Post reports.
According to Jessica Richardson, she and her husband, Franklin Richardson, wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather on Sunday, so they looked online for a nearby lake and found Oktibbeha County Lake. They loaded up their car with food for a picnic and their 2-year-old dog and drove out to the lake, which is northeast of Jacksonville, Mississippi. They set up on Kampgrounds of America in Starkville near the lake for their picnic.
Richardson said on Facebook they’d been there less than five minutes when “a truck pulls up and a white lady screams at us, she then jumps out of her truck with a gun. And proceeded to point it at the three of us.” It turns out the woman was a manager of the campground, and she claimed that she drew her weapon because the couple didn’t have a reservation.
https://www.facebook.com/100013086163475/videos/656134728166060/
After Richardson tells the woman that they could have just told them that they needed a reservation, she puts the gun in her pocket but keeps her hand hovering near it. Richardson and her husband quickly clear out, repeating that the gun was not necessary and that they didn’t know they needed a camping reservation to play by the lake. Richardson said that when they stopped at the office on the way out, the man at the desk told them reservations aren’t needed for the lake.
Richardson told local news outlet WCBI that she could “feel the intent” behind the campground manager’s threat.
“I felt it. I felt the heat from it. I felt it in her eyes. I knew exactly what it was,” Richardson said.
Richardson’s video has been shared over 13,000 times on Facebook since she posted it on Sunday, and the owners of the Kampgrounds of America took notice quickly. After an investigation, Kampgrounds of America announced that the woman had been fired, saying in a statement to WCBI that it “prides itself on providing a welcoming, safe environment for everyone to enjoy the outdoors.”
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H/T Daily Mail