Forklift to aisle one! Grown Florida man throws EIGHT MINUTE tantrum on Costco floor after being asked to wear a mask!
A Florida man was filmed as he lay on the floor in a Costco for eight minutes in protest after he was told to put on a face mask, as a pair of local sheriffs ask the maskless man to get off the floor and leave the premises.
'All I want to do is buy this stuff and leave but the government is telling me that I can't unless I wear a mask.
'What I want to know is what you want me to do?' the man asks one of the officers, who is wearing a face mask during the exchange, video of which ended roughly a minute into the episode.
The incident occurred back on December 20, 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic hysteria in a Costco located in Lantana, Florida.
The video of the man, who was not publicly identified, began making viral rounds on Saturday, when a Twitter user posted a TikTok of the bizarre incident, which had over 884,000 views, 8,000 likes and nearly 3,000 combined retweets as of Sunday night.
'He said he would sue Costco and the police if they touched him,' the original filmer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Newsflare.
'He was shopping without a mask I assume he put one on to enter and then took it off while inside but I don’t about that. He got up because the officer allowed him to pay for his stuff and leave, so he got up and paid for his stuff at the self check out then the officer escorted him out.'
A Florida man,pictured, was filmed as on the floor in a Costco for eight minutes in protest after he was told to put on a face mask, as a pair of sheriffs ask the him to get off the floor and leave
'All I want to do is buy this stuff and leave but the government is telling me that I can't unless I wear a mask,' the man told one of the responding officer's, pictured
The incident occurred back on December 20, 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic hysteria in a Costco located in Lantana, Florida
The video of the man, who was not publicly identified, began making viral rounds on Saturday, when a Twitter user posted a TikTok of the incident, which had over 884k views as of Sunday
Pictured: the Costco location in Lantana, Florida where the bizarre viral incident took place
'Outside the manager was arguing with an officer that they should have not let him pay for his stuff' the person behind the camera added.
Costco has become a common site for mask mandate battles between store workers and customers, with another viral incident occurring at a separate location in July of that year.
A woman dubbed 'Costco Karen' sat on the floor of the superstore, refusing to move while declaring 'I have constitutional rights!' after she was similarly asked to put on a face mask.
Shocking video of the confrontation, believed to have unfolded at the returns desk of a Costco in Hillsboro, Oregon, shows an employee asking an older woman to wear a mask in the store to follow its coronavirus policy.
The woman had a face mask dangling from one ear but refused to put it on completely to cover her mouth.
A woman has been dubbed 'Costco Karen' (right) after she was filmed throwing a furious tantrum in the superstore after she was asked to wear a face mask and refused to. Costco has a store policy mandating all employees and customers wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19
The clip shows an employee ask the woman to put on a face mask to follow store policy but she became angry and said, 'I will not' and sat on the ground refusing to leave until she was helped
'I am an American. I have constitutional rights!' she says angrily before the camera cuts off
Costco's policy mandating customers wear masks from back in May 2020. A year later, Cosco, Walmart and Trader Joe's would life the mask mandates for customers who were vaccinated
'You just have to tell me that you have one. Well, then you have to wear it. You have to wear your mask in public. This is private property,' the female employee said in the video posted back on June 30, 2020.
'I am not a member of Costco,' the woman is heard snapping back.
'Want me to get that taken care of for you? Well, then you’re going to have to put your mask on,' the employee says.
'I will not,' the woman says curtly, adding the mask requirement is 'your problem'.
'Well then come back another time,' the employee says.
'I want to speak to your boss,' the outraged woman replies.
The reason why no newer viral videos of supermarket mask meltdowns since then likely has to do with the fact that in May 2021, Costco, along with Walmart and Trader Joe's announced that customers who've had their COVID vaccine no longer need to wear a mask while shopping - unless local laws say otherwise.
All three grocery giants made the announcements on May 14, 2021.
A Costco store in Washington DC. The wholesaler has lifted its rule on masks, with vaccinated shoppers allowed to peruse its aisles bare-faced
A Walmart customer in Derry, New Hampshire in November 2020. The store has announced it was lifting its rule saying customers must wear masks while shopping
A Trader Joe's shopper in New York in August 2020. TJ's has also lifted its mask rule - although customers must still cover up in individual states or counties with ongoing mask mandates
An announcement on Trader Joe's website said: 'We encourage customers to follow the guidance of health officials, including, as appropriate, CDC guidelines that advise customers who are fully vaccinated are not required to wear masks while shopping.'
Both Costco and Trader Joe's said they would not require proof of vaccination, but employees at the grocery chain will still need to cover their faces.
Workers still need to answer 'yes' to a vaccination question in a daily health assessment in order to go maskless, the company said in a memo to employees posted on its corporate website.
'Integrity is one of our core values, and we trust that associates will respect that principle when answering,' the Walmart memo states. To get the bonus, workers will have to show their original vaccination certificate.
Walmart was one of the first retailers to mandate masks last July. Its move to allow vaccinated shoppers and workers to not wear masks could lead other chains to follow suit.
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