On June 22, Amber Lynn Gilles went into a Starbucks in San Diego without a mask. The barista, Lenin Guttierrez, refused to serve her without a mask. She made posts all over Facebook calling out Lenin and Starbucks and the location. Here is one of those gems that have since been deleted:
One of the patrons, Matt Cowan, set up a GoFundMe campaign for supporting Lenin and his decision to wear a mask. The “tips” fund has since raised over $63,000 (and growing) for Lenin. All of these tips will be brought to the Starbucks location where Lenin works. Here is one of the Facebook posts of Lenin thanking everyone for the support.
Lenin has since written:
“It’s been so helpful and so shocking to see something get so big that only happened within a few minutes.”
Here is the Facebook video of him explaining his side of the story:
He was working at the establishment when she walked in. He called her out and asked if she had a mask. She then told everyone she didn’t need the mask and cursed and called the other patrons “sheep.”
She left for a while and came back to take his picture and threaten to call corporate.
Lenin has said that the money will allow him to realize his dream of dancing and teaching children to dance, which he had to put on hold because of the pandemic.
Cowan, the organizer of the GoFundMe campaign told a San Diego news outlet:
“Everybody is rallying around somebody for doing what they’re supposed to do and trying to protect everyone else. It just goes to show you there are a lot of good people out there and that outweighs the bad.”
This comes in the wake of many white Karens being exposed across the country thanks to social media.
Featured image: Woman’s face via Facebook.
