California man accused of spitting on, shoving kids for wearing masks

A Southern California man has been accused of waiting outside local schools to encounter children wearing masks. He then apparently followed them around so he could cough at them, spit on them, and taunt them for being “stupid” enough to wear the face coverings.

The middle-aged man was captured on video wearing a T-shirt that read “Your mask makes you look stupid.” He allegedly has been continuing his anti-mask harassment campaign for about a month in the suburban area of La Crescenta.

His behavior has garnered him accusations for multiple incidents. Parents of children at the local schools finally had enough of those actions and gathered at the Crescenta Valley Station to demand that the police take action. 

“[The kids] were obviously getting scared. He was getting three to five inches away and coughing in their faces,” one parent, who witnessed the harassment, recalled, asking only to be identified as Ned.

The Crescenta Valley Station, which is part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, released a statement on Monday promising the force would conduct a “thorough investigation” after one incident of the man was caught on camera.

Police said, “Crescenta Valley Station is aware of a video circulating on social media regarding a dispute between an anti-mask adult and others over the masking of children. The incident appears to have occurred off school grounds sometime last week.” 

The man can be seen in the video apparently yelling at a group of middle school students in a mall parking lot. “Stay scared. Keep your masks on that don’t even work!” he shouted. One of the youth in the group can be heard yelling back, “We’re 13!”

The man then went on into an expletive filled rant at an adult who looked to intervene, screaming, “Look at this grown man with a mask on. What a fricken coward. What a total p—y…Where’d you buy your mask? The stupid store?” He then stormed off after calling the group a “bunch of idiots.”