San Francisco is not immune from racist nutjob conspiracy-loving covidiots, and a new one has offered us a fine performance, sans face mask, while railing against a Rec & Parks outreach worker in Dolores Park about the closure of the playground. To wit, she did not appear to have a child in tow.
The incident happened on Sunday, as told by worker Andres Patino, who said he was out in the park doing outreach for the "LoveDolores" campaign — which encourages people to remove their own trash. And this unmasked, "unknown Karen" can be seen in cellphone video he shot, stomping around the entrance to the playground with a pair of scissors in her hand, crowing in true Alex Jones style about the public health-related playground closure being "an unconstitutional, unlawful taking of public property." As Mission Local notes, the woman was using the scissors to cut the tape that had been strung across the playground entrance.
Interestingly, she was wearing a pair of yellow kitchen gloves.
When Patino begins filming her and she then approaches with the scissors, he tells her to stop approaching him, and she screams, "I'm not chasing you, ya dumb sheep!" But her attacks quickly become racist when she calls Patino "you little nigres," and adds, "Go back to wherever you came from."
The woman seems inspired by the likes of conspiracist Alex Jones, who recently got himself back into some social media attention by morphing into John Goodman's character from The Big Lebowski and screaming through a megaphone at a bunch of teenagers assigned to guard the entrance to a greenbelt in Austin, which had instituted a reservation system to control summer crowds. And I'm sure if I wanted to I could find a rabbit-hole's worth of YouTube videos and podcasts about how federal, state, and local governments have conspired to steal public property through this pandemic and drug us all into zombies with a fake vaccine. (The woman can also be heard screaming about how the government is putting people on ventilators in order to kill them.)
But, many of us have probably been comforted by the idea that incidents like this — in which "Karens" and "Kens" are becoming irrationally unhinged by having to comply with public-health orders about a virus they've been convinced is fake — do not happen here in San Francisco.
As Patino says in a Facebook post:
For a large portion of my life, I have felt like I didn’t belong.... Feeling that I was not Colombian or American enough, I found myself feeling like I didn’t have a place to easily exist as myself. That is, until I came to SF. I was greeted into the Quirky life here, where I’ve learned to love myself, get out of my comfort zone, and honestly just be myself. This is why this incident caught me off guard. I didn’t expect to have someone pull at my insecurities and feelings of not belonging in a place that prides itself as progressive and has felt like a safe space. To be personally attacked in my own backyard (I literally live a block away), one of my favorite places in the city, and also my work place came as a big surprise.
It should be shocking to all of us! Where did this woman come from?
Patino added in an email to Mission Local, "Since I was working at the time, I had to [restrain] myself and was unable to stand up to her comments. But [I] have decided I really want to find a way to hold her accountable for her actions."
It shouldn't take long for her to be publicly shamed, so, grab some popcorn.
See the full video below.
Yesterday, while doing outreach for LoveDolores, I was approached by this unknown Karen at Dolores Park. Upset about COVID regulations, she took it upon herself to cut & remove the blockade closing the Children’s Playground (mandated by City’s health orders) and verbally harass me. Working at the time, I felt like I needed to reel back my response to her hateful rant. However, for my own sake (even if this never reaches her), I want to let her and the other racist Karen’s in SF know that regardless of what they say, this is my home. Your bigotry is neither needed, wanted, or accepted here. If you can’t accept the beauty that comes from the great diversity that makes up SF culture, you might as well pack up your bags, hop back on the MayFlower, go back from wherever your racist ideologies come from, and return your land back to the indigenous people from whom it was stolen from. No one else should have to deal with your behavior here in SF or anywhere else. Even in our liberal city of San Francisco this is happening, and it’s up to us to say, “No Karen, BYE!!” #Karen #KarensGoneWild #CloseUpKaren #BYE #DoloresKaren #SF #DoloresPark -------------------------------- More Info: San Francisco has been home for the past 5 years now, and thousands of amazing memories + people have made this uniquely beautiful city a special place for me. Not perfect by any means, but it has felt like a safe haven for me where I’m accepted for who I am and my differences appreciated + celebrated. Being born in Colombia and moving to the US when I was 9 yrs old, has greatly shaped my life and how I see the world around me. For a large portion of my life, I have felt like I didn’t belong.... Feeling that I was not Colombian or American enough, I found myself feeling like I didn’t have a place to easily exist as myself. That is, until I came to SF. I was greeted into the Quirky life here, where I’ve learned to love myself, get out of my comfort zone, and honestly just be myself. This is why this incident caught me off guard. I didn’t expect to have someone pull at my insecurities and feelings of not belonging in a place that prides itself as progressive and has felt like a safe space. To be personally attacked in my own backyard (I literally live a block away), one of my favorite places in the city, and also my work place came as a big surprise. I’m still processing, but feel like I needed to do respond some how... I’m writing this because I want to tell whoever this Karen may be that this City I love and call home, is a place that supports, welcomes, and looks out for one another. Your type of racist behavior is not ok and goes against the core ideal of what it means to be a San Franciscan. It doesn’t matter if you’re a lawyer or homeowner as mentioned multiple times while looking down on me because of my race, social economics, and my profession. Nothing gives you the right to treat people poorly and endanger the public safety of others by going against city health guidelines. In my community and in my home, bigotry is not welcome. I hope no one else has to be hurt by this person, especially another minority person who may already be struggling and living in fear with the current state of our country. I fear that this woman may continue to harass other people, unless she’s confronted publicly and shamed for it…so just keep your eyes out for her. Can't let her think she can do as she pleases. Regardless, I hope we as a Community and City can continue to find ways to support each other and fight against the discrimination taking place in our beloved city. Thanks for reading. Love y’all <3
Posted by Andres Patino on Monday, August 17, 2020
