A Georgia woman shopping at a Walmart told another customer—who was in the store without a face mask—that she hoped she and her kids would ‘all die.’
In the video, the women argue over whether masks are required for kids younger than a certain age. The mother tells the older woman that even schools don’t require children younger than 10 to wear masks.
“Even the school requires that children under the age of 10 [not wear] them. So why would I make them wear them?” she asks.
“I hope you all die,” the older woman responds while looking down at one of the children. “I hope you all die because you’re going to kill me and my husband.” The older woman then walks away.
“Did she just say she hopes [we] all die?” says another customer who witnessed the incident.
Desiree Alis Vansickle was identified as the mother. In a video posted to her Facebook, Vansickle says she “lost it” when the masked woman commented to her kids.
“I was respectful when I shouldn’t have been but I wasn’t about this lady get away with this crap,” she wrote. “You can see her look my kids in the eyes and and say ‘I hope you all die.’ It took a lot for me to not hit her but I knew better. Please feel free to share.”
Vansickle told local news she left the encounter “shaking on the inside.” She added that while she doesn’t mind wearing a face mask, she had not planned on visiting Walmart that day and didn’t come prepared.
“There was a man at the door who said, ‘If you have a mask can you please put your mask on,’ and we didn’t have any with us but he didn’t say that we couldn’t come in,” she said.
Shoppers at Walmart must wear face coverings. Georgia’s government has also encouraged residents to wear face masks in public, especially when social distancing is not possible.
