An angry mob of New Yorkers was caught on camera berating a fellow shopper and chasing her out of the store because she wasn’t wearing a face mask.
The incident occurred at a Staten Island grocery store where several customers confronted another shopper, who wasn’t wearing a face mask, and ordered her to leave the store.
“Get the fu** out of here,” one of the angry shoppers yelled after seeing the woman without protective gear over her face. As the shoppers pushed forward, another called the woman a “dirty a** pig.”
Staten Islanders with masks drive out non-mask wearing person in grocery store. #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/iPQwk7lD9y
— Mac (@GoodPoliticGuy) May 25, 2020
After a short but heated exchange of words, the woman without a face mask admitted defeat and exited the store while being followed by the angry mob.
The incident came to light after McAuley Holmes reshared the footage of the confrontation he initially found on Twitter.
With the pandemic hitting New York hard, the government has issued a requirement for people to cover their mouths and noses in stores and other places where social distancing isn’t a viable option.
Previously, in an unrelated incident, one supermarket manager was caught on camera telling a shopper to leave the store immediately after the man refused to put on a face mask.
As Tison, the manager of the Costco in question, was heard telling the shopper in the video, the company’s policy is for everyone to wear face masks while in the store to prevent the spreading of the novel coronavirus.
Refusing to comply with Costco’s policy, the shopper, who also filmed the incident, told the manager that he’s not going to wear a mask because he’s “not a fu**ing sheep.”
In the video that started with the shopper telling the manager he’s got 3,000 followers on Instagram, Tison said:
“Hi everyone, I work for Costco and I’m asking this member to put on a mask because that is our company policy.”
Responding to the request was the shopper who said: “And I’m not doing it because I woke up in a free country.”
Following the exchange, the manager grabbed the shopper’s cart and pulled it away before wishing the man a great day and telling him to leave the store.
“He’s walking away with all my stuff. There you go. Because I’m not a fu**ing sheep,” the shopper added.
After the incident went viral, some people defended the shopper’s freedom of choice whereas others suggested the man has no right to do as he pleases while shopping at a private establishment.
On May 4, Costco issued a statement in which they made it clear all workers and customers at their stores and gas stations are required to wear face masks.
“The use of a mask or face covering should not be seen as a substitute for social distancing. Please continue to observe rules regarding appropriate distancing while on Costco premises,” they elaborated in their statement.
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Replaced!