Woman Accused In Home Depot Mask Fight Acquitted

MCHENRY COUNTY, IL — A local woman has been acquitted of all charges stemming from a reported attack at a Home Depot in McHenry that stemmed from an argument over face masks. Teri M. Hill was charged with battery and disorderly in McHenry County Court last summer after making a comment about believing "white power" during the fight.

A video of the fight was shared far and wide on the Internet at the time. A customer who alleged she was attacked by Hill shared her experience in a Facebook post, which included a video of the exchange. She said Hill complained to an employee at the store about others not wearing their masks but then took off her own mask and the woman asked Hill to put her mask back on.

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Hill then, according to the woman, told her she would cough and spit on her, according to the original allegations. Later the woman told Hill her entitlement was disgusting.

"Yes, I'm entitled, I'm white. I'm a woman," Hill said.

"You're a disgusting racist piece of trash," the other woman can be heard saying. Hill goes on to say that she believed in white power.

The exchange become physical but while delivering his ruling announcing the acquittal Wednesday, McHenry County Judge said blurry surveillance footage and differing testimonies from both women made it difficult to determine who swung first, according to the Northwest Herald.

He also said either woman could've walked away from the situation could've walked away from the situation, preventing it from escalating, according to the article. Hill told the Northwest Herald after court that her comments were meant to be sarcastic.