A couple in Minnesota were cited for trespassing after they were caught on video wearing swastika flags as face masks as they checked out at a Marshall Walmart Saturday, police say.
Warning: Language and imagery in the video may be offensive to viewers.
In the video posted to Facebook, a man behind the camera is heard saying “you’re sick” before a woman wearing a swastika mask lifts up her arms, appearing to pose for the video. She then flips off the camera.
A man also in a swastika mask can be seen behind her unloading groceries onto the checkout belt.
Walmart began requiring customers to wear masks on July 20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“You can’t be American and wear that mask,” the man behind the camera says. “We literally had a war about this.”
The woman approaches the camera and tells the people filming that she’s not a Nazi.
“I’m not a Nazi, I’m trying to tell people what’s going to happen in America,” she says. “If you vote for Biden, you are going to be in Nazi Germany. That’s what it is going to be like... socialism is gonna happen here in America.”
The couple exchanges more words with the people behind the camera before Raphaela Mueller, who filmed the interaction and posted it to Facebook, tells the woman to take off the mask.
The woman then disappears out of frame as the man in the mask loads bagged groceries into the cart.
Police responded to the store around noon after reports of a disturbance, KARE reported.
At the request of the store, police issued the two shoppers notices of trespassing, the Star Tribune reported. The 59-year-old man and 64-year-old woman were told that if they returned to the store, they would be arrested, according to the newspaper.
They left without incident, the Tribune reported.
In a statement, Walmart called the occurrence “unacceptable,” according to KARE.
“We strive to provide a safe and comfortable shopping environment for all our customers and will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment in any aspect of our business,” the company said. “It’s unfortunate that some individuals have taken this pandemic as an opportunity to create a distressing situation for customers and associates in our store.”
The trespass notices prevent the couple from returning to the store for one year, Walmart told KARE.
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