There’s mask-shaming and then there’s full on assault. A California couple having lunch with their puppy at a dog park experienced the second, when an irate woman pepper-sprayed them for refusing to mask up… while eating.
Ash O’Brien and husband Jarett Kelley say they were grabbing a bite to eat at Dusty Rhodes dog park in San Diego on Thursday, with their three-month-old pug in tow. The pair had their masks off to eat, when a “random old lady” approached, calling them “idiots” for not masking up, even though “you can’t wear a mask and eat at the same time.”
O’Brien told the woman to leave the park and stop harassing her, at which point the woman unleashed a can of mace at the couple. Video footage captured by a bystander begins with Kelley wrestling the spray can from the woman, and getting a dose of mace into the face for his troubles. O’Brien can be heard crying in the background as the attacker walks away with her dogs.
O’Brien shared the video on Facebook and told ABC 10 that she wants to see the woman “go to jail.”
Face masks are mandatory across the state of California, even in fresh air. These masks can only be removed at a select few times, including when eating or drinking. However, nowhere in the state’s coronavirus guidelines does it say that bystanders may use non-lethal weapons to enforce this policy. Even in the current era of ‘mask-shaming’, that’s still a crime carrying a penalty of a fine of $1,000 or up to three years in a state prison.
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