Anti-Mask 'Karen' Follows Mom With A Child Around Store While Coughing On Them, Gets Fired After Internet Detectives Track Her Down

A Nebraska woman got in trouble for deliberately coughing on a mother and her child inside a grocery store.

Janene Hoskovec, 54, who the internet already dubbed Anti-Mask Karen, was fired by German software company SAP after a video of the incident went viral.

The footage, captured by the mom, was initially posted on Reddit and quickly spread to other platforms.

The mom, who uses the goes by the name Jessabird on Reddit, said she was simply shopping when Hoskovec approached her and asked why she was wearing a mask.

Hoskovec then went on about how she was born and raised in Nebraska and that it's too bad that some Nebraskans have turned into sheep.

The video clearly shows Hoskovec walking up to the mom and purposely coughing on her and her daughter time and time again, smiling and saying things like, "Excuse me, I'm coming through."

"So my kid and I were at the store tonight to pick up a few groceries when this lady approached us and said politely, 'Excuse me,' and to be honest I thought she was going to ask me for help or ask where something was," Jessabird said after the incident. "I was about to say 'I don't work here, lady,' when she asked why we were wearing masks. That's when I realized that she wasn't wearing one herself. I started walking away, while replying, 'Because of the Delta variant, and also because there's a mandate.'"

That's right! As of August 24th, the city of Lincoln, which is where the whole ordeal took place, renewed a mask mandate for anyone over the age of two, regardless of vaccination status, requiring them to wear a mask indoors.

"She asked if I've had a vaccine and said that my kid and I don't need to wear masks because we look young and healthy," Jessabird continued. "There were several other people around wearing masks but for some reason, she chose to pick on me and my kid."

One of the people who really contributed to the popularity of this story is internet personality Danesh. "I initially found the video when I was tagged by several users on TikTok in the comment section of the video uploaded by the victims themselves," he told Bored Panda. "I was horrified that someone could be so cruel and brazen about publically assaulting a mother and child."

Danesh noticed the coughing lady had not been identified yet so he ran her face through facial recognition software, but nothing came up. "I eventually found her a few days later with the help of my friend Guilt by searching through Facebook groups, events, and news stories about masks and vaccines in her area by looking through every like, love, or angry reaction by a female account," the dedicated online detective said.

At the end of this video, a guy working at the store tried to intervene and told Jessabird and everyone to just go their separate ways. "Karen walked away and I told the guy what happened," Jessabird recalled. "He said it wasn't the first time he's had to deal with people like her at work."

"I then tried to continue my shopping but this lady followed me around the store. I told her she needs to keep her distance and that her coughing on me was assault. She laughed and kept saying 'Look at you, it's so cute how scared you are!' By this time I was absolutely livid, trying my best to hold it together in front of my kid. I didn't finish my shopping, instead, I went to the self-checkout to pay for my stuff. [Then], she followed me to use the self-checkout right next to mine. I informed the employee manning the checkouts that this woman had assaulted me in the store by coughing deliberately on me, but I didn't wait around to see what the employee would say in response. I just really wanted to get us the heck out of there."

"I made a video identifying Janene as soon as we found her," he added. "The reason I made it was because she needed to be held accountable for her actions."

Even though that wasn't his goal, Danesh was happy that Janene lost her. "She should be arrested for assaulting a child."

"The Lincoln Police said in a statement that they will only accept complaints from those that were present at the event. The victims are too afraid to press charges, but [the employees of the shop] were witnesses to this event and have camera footage as well. They have no reason not to file a report. In fact, it is their obligation to do so. I think the video is evidence enough to arrest Janene, but the dereliction of duty by the Lincoln Police Department stands in the way. They are enabling her behavior and Janene is already painting herself as the victim as you can see by how she reacted on LinkedIn."

Danesh highlighted that COVID-19 is very real and "there is no reason to coddle those that would put other people at risk for the sake of respecting their opinion. Opinions are not inherently precious. Some opinions are wrong and stupid. Janene should be institutionalized."