The coronavirus pandemic is bringing out the best in Americans, as people cooperate with unprecedented restrictions on their freedom of movement, often reaching out with acts of kindness and caring towards others.
Unfortunately, it also is bringing out the idiots.
First, from the “yes there are lots of idiots in blue states” department:
NEPTUNE, N.J. – A man is facing charges after allegedly coughing on a Wegmans employee in New Jersey and claiming he had the coronavirus, authorities said.
The employee told [George] Falcone, who was shopping at the Wegmans in Manalapan around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, that he was standing too close to her and an open display of prepared foods, according to the news release. The woman asked him to step back as she covered the food.
That request prompted Falcone to step forward to within three feet of her, lean over and "purposefully" cough. He then allegedly laughed and said he was infected with the coronavirus, according to the Attorney General's Office.
After he had deliberately coughed at the Wegmans’ employee, the gentleman in question, George Falcone, purportedly told two other employees that they were “lucky to have jobs.”
Falcone is charged with making terroristic threats, harassment and obstruction. He compounded his difficulties by refusing to identify himself to police for about 40 minutes. The third degree terrorism charge carries a maximum of 3-5 years in state prison.
Governor Murphy of New Jersey weighed in on Mr. Falcone’s behavior:
Murphy said,"There are knuckleheads out there," reports CBS New York. "We are up and down the state and we will not take any non-compliant behavior, never mind egregious behavior such as this," he said.
From the teenagers will be teenagers department:
Police are warning parents to monitor their children's activity amid the coronavirus pandemic after two teens appeared to film themselves coughing on produce at a Virginia grocery store.
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The teens admitted to getting close to other patrons and coughing into their own sleeves, while filming on their phones, according to police.
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Employees from the Harris Teeter immediately threw out hundreds of dollars worth of produce and notified police, according to Lt. Barry A. Dufek of the Purcellville Police Department. Police notified the public of the incident last week and identified the juveniles involved using CCTV footage, notified their parents, and interviewed them.
The teens were not charged, but like my son who once dialed 911 “to see what would happen” (an incident which ended up with the local police at our door), they probably won’t do it again.
From the “some people really just need to chill” department:
ATLANTA — Authorities say a Georgia man who feared getting the coronavirus pointed a gun at two women wearing medical masks and gloves in a post office.
Police say the man confronted a woman and her adult granddaughter in a building north of Atlanta on Sunday. He was identified by news outlets as 75-year-old Harvey Joel Taratoot.
He was arrested for “pointing a pistol at another,” and released on bail.
From the “what the hell were they thinking?” department:
(CNN)At least one person in Kentucky is infected after taking part at a "coronavirus party" with a group of young adults, Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday.
The partygoers intentionally got together "thinking they were invincible" and purposely defying state guidance to practice social distancing, Bashear said.
"This is one that makes me mad," the governor said. "We have to be much better than that."
Curiously, a lot of these incidents seem to be happening at WalMarts:
ALBEMARLE, N.C. (WIVB) – A 31-year-old North Carolina man is facing felony charges for falsely saying he has coronavirus.
In a Facebook live video that’s been viewed more than three million times on YouTube, Justin M. Rhodes is seen walking through Walmart saying that he “definitely tested positive” for COVID-19 and showing very little regard for those around him touching items and saying “If I got it, you all got it”.
Police collaborated with local health officials and discovered Rhodes did not have coronavirus. He was arrested for felony perpetrating a hoax in a public building and disorderly conduct.
Another gentleman was arrested for filming himself licking products at a Walmart in Warrenton, Missouri. Before licking the items, the man asks (rhetorically, I assume) “Who’s scared of the Coronavirus?” He then posted the video on social media.
The video appears to have been filmed on March 11 at the Warrenton store, according to court records. Pfister was taken into custody this week, and Warren County prosecutors charged him today. The charge is a low-level felony.
From Newsweek, it appears one woman was making a political statement of some kind:
A Wisconsin woman allegedly licked the door handle of a grocery store freezer in an attempt to "protest" against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
The unidentified woman was said to have made the unsanitary gesture at a Festival Foods store in Marshfield, Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon as the store manager was disinfecting the freezer door handles, according to a police report obtained by Newsweek.
"While sanitizing handles in the freezer section store manager Marty reported looking over at a woman who proceeded to look at him and lick the door handle of a freezer door," the report stated.
She was not arrested, and presumably is out making similar gestures today.
This has been your Abbreviated Stupid People roundup. The next segment will be whenever enough notable incidents of stupidity appear.