After being confronted at a Walmart for not wearing a mask, a Texas woman said that she does not make her children wear masks because “they’re one step closer to looking like a Muslim.” After the woman posted a livestream rant on July 20, Reddit users dubbed her a Karen.
Crystal Pool Latu says in her Facebook livestream that a woman confronted her while she and her children shopped at Walmart without masks. Latu says that science is on her side, and her American “freedoms” allow her to not comply with mask mandates.
“I understand that it is a 99.6% recovery rate,” Latu says. “I don’t even gamble in Vegas, but I will take these odds. I will roll these dice, and I will exercise my freedoms to not put my kids in a mask because they’re one step closer to looking like a Muslim.”
The conspiracy theory that masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus will lead to mandatory enforcement of Muslim garb like burqas has often been parroted in far-right memes.
Latu also says she hopes her children get the novel coronavirus because then they will have “life-long immunity.”
“We don’t need to slow the spread, we don’t need to limit all the germs, we need to take care of our temple,” she says. “I will not comply.”
Latu adds that if you can buy soda and cigarettes, “then surely we can go in and make a choice that wearing a mask is not healthy.”
“Killing babies is legal,” she says. “If we can kill babies in our society, surely dear Jesus, I can go into a Walmart without someone running their mouth.”
Her child yells from the backseat of the car, “Stand up for your rights,” and, “It’s all about Jesus.” Latu adds, “And, we’re all about Jesus.”
“This is how they’re working on people, through shame and fear and guilt and that’s how Satan has been working since the beginning of time,” she says. “I will not put on the mask for anyone but Jesus.”
Infectious disease physician at the University of California, San Francisco Dr. Monica Gandhi said that different types of masks block viruses to different degrees, “but they all block the virus from getting in,” the New York Times reports.
Gandhi and her colleagues said that people covering their faces will take in fewer coronavirus particles, which makes it easier for their immune system to respond, per the New York Times.
Latu’s video was uploaded to the r/FuckYouKaren subreddit where people criticized her argument against wearing masks.
“Imagine being so afraid of Muslims that you risk your own safety and the safety of your children,” one user wrote.
A commenter on Facebook wrote, “You’re ridiculous. It’s not protection for you but protection for people who have low immune system.”
Others applauded Latu for refusing to wear a mask. One said, “I agree and I’m praying for your heart as you stand up boldly. People are ruthless. Love you lots!!!”
A Twitter user called her “racist” and said, “thank you for admitting it’s not about if you can breath with a mask on or not.”
Latu did not immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.