A man simply exercising his right to free speech had those rights violated when evil grocery store workers demanded he take off a hood. The man was wearing the hood to protect himself from the coronavirus and they did not like his hood choice.
A day after San Diego residents were required to wear face coverings in public, a man went grocery shopping while wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood, according to a report.
The hooded creep was seen roaming the aisles of a Von supermarket in the San Diego County city of Santee on Saturday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Store clerks repeatedly asked the man to remove the hood or leave the premises.
A supervisor approached him at the checkout line and asked him again to take off the hood or leave, company spokeswoman Melissa Hill told the newspaper.
The man finally removed the hood, bought his items and left.
“At Vons, fostering an environment of courtesy, dignity and respect is one of our highest priorities, and we work hard to hold everyone in our stores to these standards, including customers,” Hill said.
“San Diego is #NoPlaceForHate,” Tammy Gillies, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in San Diego, said on Twitter.
Santee Mayor John Minto and residents said on social media that the man’s actions did not represent the values of the city of almost 60,000 residents.
“Many thanks to all who stepped forward to curtail this sad reminder of intolerance,” Minto said. “Santee, its leaders and I will not tolerate such behavior.”
I find this whole episode to be disgusting.
First off, the grocery store mandated the use of a mask which he complied with by wearing the white hood.
Second, by asking the man to take off his hood, they violated their own policy that mandated people wear masks.
Third, their policy does not mandate what type of mask is required to enter their store.
Fourth, asking someone to take off their face covering simply because they dislike the type of face covering they are wearing is discrimination and against the law.
Fifth, asking someone to remove their face covering as we are in the middle of the worst pandemic in the history of the world is a health hazard. They put other customers at risk by demanding this man take off his hood.
This man should sue this free speech hating grocery store for violating his fundamental civil and human rights. They also put him at risk of being infected with the coronavirus by demanding he take off his protective covering.
