A man from eastern Missouri has been charged with making a terrorist threat after he allegedly coughed on customers and wrote “COVID” on a cooler inside a Dollar Tree store, according to The Associated Press.
What happened:
- John Swaller, of Cuba, Missouri, was charged Tuesday and held on $25,000 bail, according to the Cuba, Missouri, police department.
- A Dollar Tree employee called police after Swaller allegedly coughed on customers and breathed into a cooler. He wrote “COVID” on the inside of the cooler, too.
- The store was closed down immediately and sanitized.
Reaction:
- According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Swaller’s father said his son has not been diagnosed with COVID-19.
- His father said Swaller is “healthy as a horse” and he called the allegations “a big lie.”
- Cuba police Chief Doug Shelton told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch police wore protective gear when bringing Swaller to jail out of fears he has the coronavirus.
- Shelton said: “I feel that it worries a lot of the residents of Cuba. It has angered a lot of people.”
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This happened in Missouri before, too
- According to The Hill, a Missouri man named Cody Lee Pfister was charged after he allegedly made a video of himself asking people “Who’s scared of coronavirus?” while walking around Walmart.