Video of ‘vulgar,’ maskless man at Danbury bookstore goes viral
Another employee first told the man to put on a mask when he walked in without one, Ewing said. He yelled about the mandate, then swore and walked around the employee, she said.
DANBURY — When a man without a mask started swearing at Barnes & Noble employees, manager Sharon Ewing knew she had to get him to leave.
“Every thought at that point was to get him out of my store,” said Ewing, who has worked at the Danbury bookstore for five years. “There were children in the store. He was being clearly vulgar. I just wanted him gone.”
The interaction between
Ewing and the man was captured on a video that has gone viral with millions of views on social media. It’s the latest example of viral videos that show people without masks causing spectacles in public.
Danbury police issued a citation to the man for creating a public disturbance.
“Hopefully he understands that he doesn’t come back in here again,” Ewing said.
Another employee first told the man to put on a mask when he walked in without one, Ewing said. He yelled about the mandate, then swore and walked around the employee, she said.
Ewing, who had been with another customer, approached him to tell him to leave.
“As I approached him, he told me if I didn’t get away from him, he was going to lay me out,” she said.
That’s about when the video begins.
“I have a (expletive) right to be here,” the man says.
“You don’t,” Ewing says. “Yes I do,” he says. She tells him there are signs stating he must wear a mask, while he repeats, “that is not a law.”
“Step away,” he yells at Ewing, who had not walked closer to him “Out,” she says. “Back the (expletive) up from me. Why are you so close to me?” he asks, taking a step toward her.
Shortly after Ewing says Danbury police will remove him, the man swings his backpack around and appears to head toward the door. But he turns around when Ewing repeats, “You do not belong in this store.”
“What do you mean,” he says, striding toward her with his backpack over his shoulder. “What? Step away from me. Step away from me.”
He argues with her over
the mask mandate and then heads toward the exit, directing a vulgar phrase at her.
“Merry (expletive) Christmas, everyone,” he says before walking out the door.
Ewing watched to ensure he got into his car and wrote down his li
cense plate, she said. She then called her boss and later the police, she said. Ewing said she does not plan to file personal charges against the man.
The man was not issued a fine or citation related to not wearing a mask.
“It was a different kind of investigation,” Lt. Andrew Corrado said. “They didn’t call the police because he wasn’t wearing a mask. They called the
police because he wouldn’t leave.”
Throughout the pandemic, Ewing and her staff have dealt with people who have taken their masks off in the store or failed to wear it over their nose.
“It’s been going on since we reopened in June in some form or another,” Ewing said. “He was clearly the worst of them.”
The video has been
shared on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. Ewing said she has gotten comments of support from people in Australia and New Zealand.
“I had no idea it was going to blow up like this,” Ewing said.“It’s all been very positive, and they were all very grateful that I handled it and kept my cool. Just looking at the comments online, people were grateful that we
as a company are actually doing something about this.”
Barnes and Noble has prepared employees well to deal with these kinds of situations and encourages staff to work with customers who have medical conditions that prevent them from wearing masks, she said. This includes offering accommodations like curbside pickup, she said.
“Everyone is mostly pretty good about it, but we’ve definitely dealt with some jerks,” Ewing said.
She urged customers to follow mask regulations.
“Service workers don’t deserve to deal with people who don’t want to follow the rules,” Ewing said. “Do everyone a favor and just wear a mask. If we can wear it all day, you can definitely do it for 20 minutes.”