Anti-mask protest in front of the California chicken and waffle restaurant turns violent
An anti-mask protest outside a popular chicken and waffle restaurant in Southern California turned violent over the weekend as the mask-compulsory debate continues.
A video posted on social media shows a man being dragged out of Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles in Anaheim by security forces while a woman shouts “brutality”.
“Let go of him,” you hear another person scream.
Officials responded to the scene after someone was reportedly sprayed with pepper spray, but no one was injured or arrested in the protest, KCAL-TV, a Los Angeles television station, reported.
A week earlier, a video went viral in which a woman harassed restaurant staff and compared the mask requirement to separation after being told to wear a mask, according to KCAL.
Newsweek reached out to Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles Monday afternoon for comment, but had received no feedback through the publication. This story is updated with every answer.
In Anaheim, fully vaccinated individuals are not required to wear masks indoors, but individual companies are allowed to waive their own masking requirements, according to the city’s website. Anaheim is a city of just under 350,000 people in Orange County and is notably home to Disneyland.
Orange County’s COVID-19 cases began to rise in July when the delta variant became prevalent in the United States. Falls are still higher than in the past few months, which led to the late summer spike, although they have decreased slightly recently. On Sunday, the county had a seven-day average of 385 new cases per day.
In the United States, anti-mask and anti-vaccine mandate activists have held protests against what they consider excessive government policies – even if COVID-19 cases in the US remain high.
A video of anti-mandate advocates storming a Staten Island food court has been viewed 2 million times. The video did not show the security of the mall they were faced with, despite signs saying the vaccine must sit in the food court.
An anti-mask protest in Anaheim, California turned violent. Here an anti-mask protester holds a signature in May in Pennsylvania.
Mark Makela / Getty Images
Videos posted on social media showed protesters sitting at tables singing “F ** k Joe Biden,” some wearing pro-Trump T-shirts and waving American flags.
In Tennessee, anti-mask activists threatened to stop access to some schools after a district judge instituted a mask mandate in schools, causing some to fail. State Representative Gloria Johnson wrote in a tweet: “This is not a group that cares for children.”
Three schools in Vancouver, Washington, were closed in early September after a group of people protesting mask mandates tried to enter one of the schools.
Despite the protests, many public health officials continue to recommend that people wear masks in some situations, including during school. Some school districts have introduced masking requirements for students, and some places, including New York City, have required vaccinations in order to participate in some public activities, including eating out and going to the gym.