SAN ANTONIO – EDITOR’S NOTE: Video above contains graphic language.
A heated discussion over face masks led to a tussle earlier this week at a San Antonio store.
The incident, which was caught on camera and has since received 65,000 views on Facebook, shows customers arguing with a man Wednesday afternoon at a 99 Cents Only Store in the 2900 block of OId Thousand Oaks.
In the video, a man appears to ask a customer to leave because he does not have a face covering on. A report from the San Antonio Police Department states the manager told him he needed to wear a mask while inside the store.
“I don’t care,” the man replies, then goes on to reference Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that people cannot be fined for not wearing face coverings.
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The suspect appears to charge at other customers who are recording the incident on their cell phone at the front of the store.
The report states the suspect knocked a man’s phone from his hands. The man who was recording pushed the suspect, and the suspect then grabbed the man by his neck and pushed him against freezers, the report states.
The video stops when the suspect begins talking to the woman also recording the incident.
“I’m going to f*** your phones up,” he says moments before the video cuts off.
San Antonio police confirmed to KSAT.com that officers were dispatched to the store around 2:45 p.m. for a report of an assault in progress.
By the time officers arrived, the suspect had already left in a dark-colored Nissan, police said. No arrest has been made, according to SAPD.
The video shared on Facebook went viral as face masks have become a debatable topic amid the coronavirus crisis.
Which stores require face masks to be worn in San Antonio?
As Texas starts to reopen, Abbott said in late April that “no jurisdiction can impose any type of penalty or fine” to those not wearing a mask.
In San Antonio, face coverings are required for people 10 and older, although there will be no civil or criminal penalty, which falls in line with Abbott’s orders.
While fines are not imposed, private stores are allowed to ask customers to leave if they’re not wearing a mask.
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Read more of KSAT.com’s coronavirus coverage here.