Anti-mask protesters storm LA mall, confront shoppers: ‘People die! That’s life.’
The protesters claimed that COVID-19 was a 'con job' as to why they wouldn't wear masks
Over the weekend, a group of anti-mask protesters stunned a community in Los Angeles after storming into a local shopping mall and attacking customers and employees.
According to a report from Buzzfeed, Sunday, several videos posted on Twitter showed the unmasked demonstrators walking through a Ralph’s supermarket and the Westfield Century City mall while chanting “no more masks.”
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Instead of making this a peaceful protest, the group opted to get into loud shouting matches with patrons who asked them to follow state mandates and put on masks. In addition to refusing to wear protection, some were also spotted carrying signs declaring that COVID-19 a “con-job.”
“I tested negative, so what are you worried about?” said one protester while ironically wearing an “All Lives Matter” mask around his chin. He then called a shopper a “mask Nazi.”
This assertion that COVID is not a real threat is particularly stunning given that California is currently experiencing an alarming in cases.
Buzzfeed reports that on the same day as the incident, “the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 12,488 new cases of COVID-19 and 91 deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 818,639 and the death count from the virus to 10,773. More than 7,500 people across the county are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus, an unprecedented surge that is overwhelming the region’s healthcare system and forcing workers to treat patients in gift shops and conference rooms.”
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In one particularly poignant confrontation at the Westfield Mall, a woman tried to reason with the protestors by telling them she was a doctor and had a relative in the hospital battling with COVID-19. But instead of showing compassion, the protester responded, “People die. That’s life. People die. Your father’s not special.”
Monday, Los Angeles police Officer Rosario Cervantes confirmed that there were no arrests connected to the protest at either location, clarifying that officers responded just “to keep the peace.”
“We were there to keep the peace and they were there to facilitate their First Amendment rights,” Cervantes added.
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