LOS ANGELES, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The debate whether to wear masks to protect against the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has become a volatile one in the southwest state of Arizona.
A video clip posted on Twitter Sunday showed a woman, now named "QAnon Karen" by internet followers, smashing down a display of face masks at a Target in Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix.
In the video, with over 4 million views so far, the woman can be heard saying "finally we meet the end of the road" as she approaches the mask display and tears it down.
After she was approached by two store employees wearing masks and asked to stop, the woman asked: "Why? You let everyone else do it. I can't do it because I'm a blonde white woman?"
Another video posted later on Sunday showed police arresting the woman at her home. She claimed to be a spokesperson for QAnon and the White House and wanted the police to "call Donald Trump and ask him" because she can't share any "classified information."
QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theory detailing a supposed secret plot by an alleged "deep state" against Trump and his supporters.
The viral videos reflected how deeply political the issue of wearing masks has become in America. Democrats, healthcare professionals, and liberals generally support wearing masks, while conservatives and Republicans generally resist the measure, even the president himself, who has been reluctant to wear a mask in public.
More than 135,000 people have died in America since March because of COVID-19, with more than half a million deaths worldwide.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Arizona exceeded 100,000 on Monday. Rapidly increasing cases and hospitalizations have made the Grand Canyon State one of the worst COVID-19 hot spots in the nation.
The state has no mandate to wear mask; however, major cities in the state all ordered mask wearing to contain the fatal disease. Enditem
