Gun-toting white woman fired by campground after threatening Black couple on camera

(EURWeb.com) — Kamp-grounds of America, a chain that oversees hundreds of commercial campgrounds nationwide, has confirmed that the property manager for the Starkville location in Mississippi has been fired after she threatened a Black couple with a gun because they did not have a reservation.

On Tuesday of last week, spokesman Mike Gast told The Associated Press that the unidentified white woman was no longer employed with the company, adding that Kampgrounds of America “does not condone the use of a firearm in any manner.”

Jessica Richardson shared video on Facebook of she and her husband’s tense moment with the rabid, gun-toting white woman. In the caption, Jessica explained how they were trying to enjoy a picnic with their dog by Oktibbeha County Lake when the former manager confronted them.

The couple reportedly received permission from the reception office to spend the day by the nearby lake without having a reservation to the campground, MSN reports.

However, soon after they started walking, Richardson and her husband were approached by an elderly white female, who pulled up next to them in her truck, got out her vehicle and brandished her firearm. After learning the couple did not have a reservation, she ordered them to leave the campsite.

In the video, Richardson can be heard saying: “This lady just pulled a gun because we [are] out here and don’t have reservations. The only thing you had to tell us was to leave, we would have left. You didn’t have to pull a gun.”

The woman responds, “Well I’m just telling you need to leave because it’s under private ownership,” she said before putting the gun away. “You can’t be out here.”

Jessica’s husband, Franklin, a sergeant in the Army National Guard, had recently returned from a nine-month deployment in the Middle East, according to WCBI.

“It’s kind of crazy,” he told the station. “You go over there and don’t have a gun pointed at you, and you come back home and the first thing that happens is you have a gun pointed at you.”

Shortly after the video was posted on Facebook, Kampgrounds of America issued the following statement:

“Kampgrounds of America is currently looking into the matter and reaching out to all of the parties involved,” it said in a statement. “Kampgrounds of America prides itself on providing a welcoming, safe environment for everyone to enjoy the outdoors.”

This article originally published in the June 3, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.