Costco shopper refuses to wear coronavirus mask, is booted from store
Costco's store policy says all customers must wear face coverings
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A Costco employee booted a customer from the store for refusing to wear a mask during a confrontation that was captured on video and has since circulated on social media.
The warehouse worker asked a shopper to wear a mask while he was inside the store, in accordance with Costco's novel coronavirus guidelines. But the man refused and instead began videotaping, telling the employee he's going to share the video with his 3,000 Instagram followers.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COST | COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP. | 952.62 | +24.54 | +2.64% |
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"Hi everyone," says the employee, whose nametag reads, "Tison." "I work for Costco and I'm asking this man to put on a mask because that is our company policy. So either wear the mask or…"
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The shopper then interrupts the worker before he is able to finish his sentence, and turns the camera on himself.
"And I'm not doing it, because I woke up in a free country," the customer responds.
Tison, who is wearing a mask, begins to pull the cart away from the shopper as he tells him to "have a great day."
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"You are no longer welcome here in our warehouse. You need to leave," Tison can be heard saying. "Thank you very much."
Customers wearing protective masks from the coronavirus and keeping social distancing space line up to enter a Costco Wholesale store in the Van Nuys section of Los Angeles, on May 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
Costco announced earlier this month that as of May 4, all Costco shoppers "must wear a face covering that covers the mouth and nose, at all times while at Costco."
But the customer wasn't finished. According to TMZ, he later posted a second video of himself, this time to further discuss what had happened inside the big-box store.
"I've got every f------ right to not wear a mask anywhere, because this isn't about not wearing a mask. This is about control, okay?" he asks in the video. "And I'm not the f------ sheep. Y'all are the f------ sheep, every single one of you, going along with what everybody else is saying."
He adds that the Costco worker was "hovering over" him, "stalking" him and messing with him.
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"If everyone else is wearing a mask, then one person should be able to fly, if anything," he says.
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Meanwhile, a person who appears to be Tison tweeted a picture of himself giving a thumbs up on Tuesday, along with a thank you to his Twitter supporters.
"People of Twitter thank you for all of the support," he wrote. "I was just trying to protect our employees and our members."