“We are aware of the incident that allegedly involves one of our recorded employees coughing up a baby at a Yogurtland branch. We are in contact with the San José Police, who are working on the investigation and are trying to confirm the identity of the person involved, ”reported the Oak Grove School District (OGSD), which serves nearly 10,000 students of San José in its 17 schools.
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School officials did not identify the employee by name or specify whether she is a teacher or an office worker. At the moment, the woman has also not been fired, as the law enforcement agency asked the school district “not to take any action on this matter” while the official investigation remains open.
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The Police Department explained in an email sent to Univision News 14 that they cannot disclose the suspect’s name “until there is an arrest warrant against them, they are detained or they are issued a summons.”
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Meanwhile, OGSD said in a statement that the employee in the video at the moment is not working or providing any services to her students. They also added that there is no place in the school district for “any employee who deliberately harms a minor” and described the incident as “a despicable act”.
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“He coughed into my child’s face three times”
In accordance with the investigation, the aggressor, whom the authorities describe as a white woman in her 60s, was upset with the victim because she allegedly “did not maintain the proper social distance” within the store. Immediately “he took off his mask, went to the baby’s face and coughed two or three times,” said the police, describing the type of attack that has taken on new dimensions in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
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“It happened in a few seconds, very fast. She took a few steps, removed her mask, and coughed into my boy’s face three times. But very strong. I was in ‘shock’. My reaction as a mom was to protect my son, ”says Mireya Mora in an interview with Noticias Univision 14.
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The authorities confirmed that at the moment there are no indications that it is a hate-motivated attackHowever, the victim assures that the white woman confronted her about social distance until she heard her speak Spanish with her grandmother.
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“I was very angry, acting very racist. She walked towards the employees and told them ‘this lady is very close to me, they have to tell her to go away because she is very close,’ ”Mireya says of the encounter, adding that there were other white people in front of the suspect who were not they were six feet away.
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In a statement, a Yogurtland spokesperson indicated that the establishment is cooperating with authorities in the investigation and that the manager of the place “acted quickly to smooth the situation and remove the client in question.” In the videos of the security cameras, the woman is observed hurriedly leaving the premises.
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Users of social networks have shared the video of the assault to help find the whereabouts of the suspect, whom they began to call the new “Karen” en San José.
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“Karen,” like other proper names like “Becky” and “Tom,” are used on social media to refer to people who use their white privilege to confront minorities in situations where no crime is being committed. The scenarios usually show white people threatening to call the Police against African-Americans or Latinos.
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