George Falcone, 50, has been charged with making terroristic threats while in a branch of Wegmans in Manalapan, New Jersey, on Sunday evening.
Falcone has been accused of exploiting people’s fears by intentionally coughing on a supermarket worker while claiming he had coronavirus.
An employee inside the store asked Falcone to move away from prepared foods while she covered them up, According to the state’s attorney general Gurbir Grewal
It is alleged that at this point Falcone leaned towards the woman and deliberately coughed on her and laughed, telling her he had coronavirus.
Falcone went on to tell two other employees that they were lucky to have jobs, and initially refused to identify himself when approached by a police officer, according to prosecutors.
After Falcone was charged, Monmouth County prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said: “Exploiting people’s fears and creating panic during a pandemic emergency is reprehensible.
“In times like these, we need to find ways to pull together as a community instead of committing acts that further divide us.”
Grewal added: “These are extremely difficult times in which all of us are called upon to be considerate of each other – not to engage in intimidation and spread fear, as alleged in this case.
“Just as we are cracking down on bias offences and those who use the pandemic to fuel hatred and prejudice, we vow to respond swiftly and strongly whenever someone commits a criminal offence that uses the coronavirus to generate panic or discord.”
Falcone has denied the accusations, telling press agency Reuters that he “didn’t cough on anyone and never mentioned corona”.
This is crazy. What do you guys think of this?
