A video by Trader Joe’s manager in Oregon, where there is a statewide masking mandate, preventing a group of “anti-maskers” from entering his store has received at least 7.7 million views since it was shared on Twitter .
Trader Joe’s states on his website: “We require customers to use a facial covering that meets the standards of the applicable health authorities when shopping in our stores. That they cannot use facial coverage.”
The video, posted by @ davenewworld_2, a freelance reporter, received 145,800 likes and 37,600 retweets at the time of publication.
“Trader Joe’s manager in Oregon does a great job of rejecting anti-maskers,” posted @ davenewworld_2.
“It happened in Salem, OR. The full 8 minutes will kill your brain cells. of the incident shared on your Instagram account.
One person in the group said to the manager, “We are here to shop … shop in peace.”
The manager replied, “It’s okay if you just want to shop, it’s okay if you just want to get your shopping.”
Then another person was heard saying: “We don’t want special treatment, we just want to be honored as buyers”, to which the manager replies: “I’m listening, I really understand all of this”.
The manager continued: “As I was telling your friends there, I don’t want to tell you what to think, what to do, what to believe or anything. I ask you to be kind enough to understand [that] here at TJ’s [Trader Joe’s] and what we’re doing, we’re just trying to work, make a living.
“The difference that you are trying to make is not going to be made with us. But it can be made with your government.
“I’m not here to debate policies. I fully respect your freedom to think what you want. Without a doubt, I really believe that,” said the manager.
When someone in the group started to say: “We are demonstrating so that …” another person in the group interrupted and said: “We are not actually demonstrating, we are buying groceries, so I am here.”
The manager replied, “All I’m saying is my responsibility as the manager of this store is to enforce the mandate.”
A member of the group then said, “It is not a law, you cannot enforce non-law. You cannot deny someone the right to trade.”
Pointing to other customers entering the store, one person in the group headed for the entrance and the manager also headed for the entrance to prevent the person from entering the store.
The manager said, “I just want to talk to you and I’m just asking you to show me the same courtesy.
When the person said, “We can do this indoors,” the manager replied, “I prefer to do this outside the home.”
In the full version of the video shared on Instagram, while the manager and other workers continued to block the entrance to the store, a member of the group said: “The Civil Rights Act protects me to go in and shop like everyone else.”
The manager replied, “The Civil Rights Act protects your religious freedom to practice. With all due respect, you are manipulating this constitution.”
The person replied, “I am not. How dare you say that I am manipulating a law.”
Another member of the group was later heard using a horn to say, “Learn your constitution, we have rights, this is America”, before the video ended.
The Oregon Health Authority states that masks are required across the state at all times, unless you:
- In your own residence.
- “in your own personal vehicle.
- Less than five (5) years of age.
- Eat or drink.
- Participate in an activity that makes it impossible to use a mask, facial cover or facial protector, such as bathing.
- Asleep.
- In an individual and private workspace.
- Remove the mask briefly because your identity needs to be confirmed by visual comparison, such as at a bank or if you are interacting with the police. “
The incident occurred when the total number of confirmed cases in Oregon exceeded 133,205, with 1,800 deaths reported, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
The state’s seven-day average of cases has increased dramatically since the end of October, reaching 1,541 on November 30. The number decreased until the end of December and increased again until January.
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The new coronavirus has infected more than 95.1 million people, including just over 23.9 million in the United States, since it was first reported in Wuhan, China.
More than two million people have died worldwide and more than 52.4 million have recovered by Monday, according to the JHU.
The chart below, produced by Statista, illustrates the spread of COVID-19 in the United States
The chart below, produced by Statista, illustrates the number of daily deaths from COVID-19 in the USA
