Photo of Kristin Hoff, arrested in Michigan on disorderly conduct and assault charges for her behavior in a Roseville neighborhood market arising from her refusal to wear a protective face covering at the store.

Shoppers Draw Inspiration From Trump In Defying Retailers’ COVID-19 Rules

 

by Richard Cameron


 

Shoppers Draw Inspiration From Trump In Defying Retailers’ COVID-19 Rules

 

As we have been reporting, there is a sizable minority in the United States, that are militating against the CDC’s advisory for citizens to don protective face coverings in environments where groups of people concentrate, such as retail establishments, and in the majority of cases, the individuals that act out on this, can be evidenced to have drawn their inspiration from Donald Trump and the right wing media. 

In the case of those retail stores that make it a condition of patronage, the reactions have ranged from belligerence and disruption to felony assault. This was our recent report on the backlash against retail workers:

Retailers’ COVID-19 Health Mandates Are Met With Violence Against Employees

We also noticed that some shoppers, short of getting physical with employees and other shoppers, are staging outbursts that have an overtly political component:    

Writer’s Lounge – Woman Is Unhinged By Retail Store Mask Mandate, “42” Movie

But it appears this is something more than some rare episodes.  It evidences the likelihood that this sort of behavior will become more frequent and widespread, especially since even those who don’t have an ideological opposition, possess the belief that when various states lift stay at home orders, that process translates into permission to not observe social distancing and the donning of masks.

The latest incident took place in San Antonio, Texas.  A customer at a 99 Cents Only store that has instituted an employee mask policy, and in this region, a  requirement for shoppers to wear them, was asked by, it appears, another patron of the store, why he, thought he had no responsibility to everyone else in the store to wear a mask.

As the video demonstrates, the individual not wearing the mask, soon reacted violently.


It’s evident that the actions of the Governor in Texas, Greg Abbott, in defending a woman arrested for opening a beauty salon in the middle of the essential businesses only order, rendered an impression on the individual shown in the video, given that among his comments, was, “Texas’ Governor says you don’t need (expletive).”

 

photo of woman, Kristin Hoff, Roseville, MI, arrested for attacking a store employee of Nino Salvaggio's market, when she was asked to wear a protective COVID-19 mask and then resisted arrest and spit at responding police officers.

 

In Michigan, a woman, Kristin Hoff, 33, of Roseville, (shown above) – was charged with assaulting/resisting and obstructing a police officer, a two-year felony; assault and battery, a 93-day misdemeanor; and refusing fingerprinting, a 90-day misdemeanor, in connection with an April 26 incident at Nino Salvaggio’s, 27900 Harper Ave.

Hoff entered the store and was asked to leave because she wasn’t wearing a face mask. Police were called to the store following her alleged assaulted on a worker at the market. When they arrived,  Hoff, according to the police report, continued to “behave erratically” and resisted arrest, attacking the officers and even spitting at them, at which point she was arrested.

Finally, 10 days ago, in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, Elijah Brown was arrested by Perkasie Borough Police charged with Aggravated Assault, Simple Assault, Defiant Trespass, Resisting Arrest, Harassment & Criminal Mischief.

The Perkasie Borough Police report outlines the incident and the resulting charges:

Police were called to a business on W. Walnut St. for the report of an assault.  The victim, an employee of the business was assaulted after requesting the customer to follow the posted signs regarding wearing a face covering while inside the establishment.  The male refused, assaulted the victim and left the business on foot.  Police located the subject who refused to comply and began running.  Police were able to stop and detain Mr. Brown taking him into custody.  While in custody, Mr. Brown deliberately used his knee to strike an Officer. Mr. Brown was arraigned by Judge Seaman and transported to Bucks County Prison in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Charges: (18) 2702 (A)(2) Aggravated Assault (18) 2701 (a)(1) Simple Assault (18) 3503 (B)(1)(I) Defiant Trespass Actual Communication (18) 5104 Resisting Arrest (18) 2709 (a)(1) Harassment (18) 3304 (A)(2) Criminal Mischief

Back to the Golden State, in an incident, remarkably similar to one we reported on a few days ago, yet another anti-social distancing activist Shelley Lewis, staged a confrontational episode inside the Gelson’s Market in Orange County coastal city, Dana Point, California. 

Gelson’s, as do most all retail chains, post a sign at the front entrance notifying customers that facial coverings are required to enter the store. Ms. Lewis made a phone video of her interaction with a Gelson’s staff member.

Lewis later posted the above video on her Facebook page. She received a significant number of disapproving responses and soon deleted the video and closed out her Facebook account. 

Though the incident did not become physical, it was disruptive. Lewis argued with the store manager and eventually threatened legal action on the grounds that she’s “being discriminated against”

Southern California is experiencing a trend of individuals staging confrontations for the purpose of advancing the political agenda revolving around objections to what they consider an abridgment of their civil right to expose others to COVID-19, based on their erroneous concept of being free from the disease, because they are not displaying symptoms – clearly a component of a broader anti-science movement. 

In fact Lewis has been actively advocating on social media in protest of coronavirus regulations.  One of her posts featured a “Do’s and Dont’s” list a local beach, Salt Creek with the caption, “So glad people are not complying with these stupid unconstitutional ‘rules’.”

But as we have repeatedly demonstrated with reference to a long history in this country, of not only the fundamental right of private property, (excluding racial discrimination) but of the establishment of laws allowing government to reshape certain activities during public health emergencies, there exists no Constitutional right to endanger the health of others. 

As Wendy E. Parmet, the director of the Center for Health Policy and Law at Northeastern University, correctly observes, “I never had a right to do something that could injure the health of my neighbors.”  

{Editor’s Note:  shortly after initial publication, we received this, which took place on the 18th (May) – and it was so relevant to the rest of the material in this report, we knew we needed to add it as a bonus.}

Our international collection lets you say adios to Trump in several languages

 

Intrnational collection

[comment-form]

 

One thought on “Shoppers Draw Inspiration From Trump In Defying Retailers’ COVID-19 Rules

  1. Yes you are a …. sheep because you are a follower of the segment of society that thinks they are better than everyone else and dont have to follow laws.

Comments are closed.

Related Posts

Why The Democrats Should Use A Light Touch On Trump’s Policy Agenda

The Democratic Party lost the lection despite a well qualified candidate, a demonstrably better economic plan, and a platform promoting a far more positive view of America. It is time to step aside and let the people dance with their chosen partner. Stop claiming the Republicans have no mandate just becuase the vote margin was tight. Instead remind Republicans that they have made promises to the American people and that they have a responsibility to keep these promises.