Tennessee's attorney general investigating man who bought 17,700 bottles of hand sanitizer

Empty shelves at Target.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Matt Colvin zig-zagged his way across Tennessee and Kentucky, picking up every bottle of hand sanitizer and package of disinfectant wipes along the way. The plan was to sell the items online, charging a premium to people desperate for some sanitizer amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Colvin, a Tennessee resident, shared his story with The New York Times on Saturday, and by Sunday, he had received death threats, was no longer allowed to sell on Amazon or eBay, and was under investigation by the state. "We will not tolerate price gouging in this time of exceptional need, and we will take aggressive action to stop it," Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slaterly III said.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.