A Trader Joe’s market in Fresno, California, closed Saturday night after anti-mask protesters showed up to complain about mask policies, The Fresno Bee reports.
- Demonstrators blocked the entrance of the store, police told the Fresno Bee.
- A video showed a man without a mask talking to an employee in front of the store with the doors closed. The man read off a list of rights that, he said, the store violates. Protesters without masks were near the man and the employee, with protesters cheering on the maskless man, according to the Fresno Bee.
Experts have said the mask mandates don’t necessarily violate human rights, according to SF Gate. In fact, court cases have disputed the policy in the past and judges have shot down claims that mandates violated civil rights.
The bigger picture
Trader Joe’s incident isn’t isolated. In fact, protests over face masks continue to go viral even as the novel coronavirus spikes across the country, according to USA Today.
And it’s happening everywhere. For example, protesters waved American flags outside a Houston cafe over the weekend after customers were upset for having to wear face masks there, USA Today reports.
Similarly, a customer complained at an H&M in Hanover, Maryland, after she was asked to put on a mask. She refused to do so, according to USA Today.