Melbourne’s biggest COVID-19 stoushes caught on video: Bunnings Karen, James Bartolo
From supermarket clashes over toilet paper to the Bunnings “Karen” who went viral for all the wrong reasons, here are Melbourne’s biggest COVID-19 dummy spits.
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From Bunnings Karen to supermarket clashes over toilet paper, the coronavirus pandemic has really brought out the worst in some Melburnians.
Here are the biggest COVID-19 tantrums, caught on video during the pandemic.
TOILET PAPER STOUSHES
At the beginning of the pandemic in March shoppers across Melbourne were sent into a frenzy, with several of them filmed clashing over toilet paper.
In one video, which was shared on the Coles Facebook page by an onlooker, a female staff member can be seen standing on a pallet handing out toilet paper to customers.
Things then get tense when the man says: “Answer my question please … who is the big one for?”
“Just get out … I am being fair by giving it out randomly,” the female staff member replies.
But the man refuses to leave, accusing her of “not being fair”.
“If you were a man I going (sic) to smash your face,” he said.
In another confrontation, at a Melbourne Coles outlet, which attracted thousands of views, two women were filmed fighting over toilet paper.
Comedian and prankster Jamie Zhu, the video’s author, led sceptics to believe the “shoppers” featured were actors, but dozens of other altercations were filmed across the state, with security even forced to intervene in some cases.
THE KARENS OF MELBOURNE
Bunnings ‘Karen’, less commonly known as Kerry Nash, the dramatic anti-masker who went viral, crying she would sue police after being “assaulted” during her tirade at the Bunning’s carpark car park in June.
In another incident in July, another anti-mask wearing ‘Karen’ emerged, this time taunting a Woolworths worker and police after she refused to wear a mask.
In a series of videos posted by Inessa Zorkina on Facebook and Instagram on Thursday morning, she is seen arguing with a Woolworths worker for refusing to wear a mask.
It’s understood workers called police after the altercation.
CONSPIRACY THEORIST CLASHES
An well-known conspiracy theorist and anti-masker attempted to square off with a pair of Protective Service Officers after claiming complying with coronavirus restrictions was in breach of his rights.
Nick Patterson hit the headlines in July for hosting a conspiracy theorist gatherings at his Cranbourne gym.
The confrontation was broadcast by Mr Patterson live on Facebook, showing him refusing to mask up before being arrested at a train station in Melbourne’s southeast.
In the clip, Mr Patterson is allegedly heard trying to recite parts of the Public Administration Act before attempting to explain to the PSOs how his stance is not an unlawful one.
Mr Patterson allegedly went on to claim he has an “exemption” to not wear a mask but wouldn’t provide any further information when questioned by PSOs.
The broadcast then shows the alleged conspiracy theorist arrested by the pair for not providing proof of identification.
CHECKPOINT CLASHES
James Bartolo, a leader of the conspiracy group The Conscious Truth Network, uploaded a video of himself arguing with officers for 20 minutes about whether their actions were legal.
Mr Bartolo used similar language to Eve Black, who was reading from a script on a piece of paper in her vision of her interaction with officers at a lockdown checkpoint.
Mr Bartolo said: “What’s the crime I’ve committed? If I haven’t committed a crime, then I’m going to go.”
Eventually, in apparent frustration, the officer permitted him to pass—– a similar end result to that captured in Ms Black’s video.
Mr Bartolo regularly shares videos with his followers discussing the “pandemic” hoax, questioning whether COVID-19 is infectious and pushing 5G conspiracies.
In his latest alleged stoush, footage of police storming the former bodybuilder’s home emerged on social media on Friday less than 24 hours before the planned protest at the Shrine of Remembrance.
He was charged with incitement for alleged his role in the prohibited “Freedom Day” rally.
He was bailed to appear at Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on May 5 next year.
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