Facebook Molly's Spirits Lakeside
A woman who refused to wear a mask at a liquor store called the owners “Nazis” after they asked her to leave the store. The incident occurred at Molly’s Spirits liquor store in Lakeside, Colo., just outside Denver. It was captured on video by the woman herself, Ruby Musso, who posted it to her Facebook on Wednesday, July 15, Westword reported.
The 5-minute clip shows multiple customers and store employees asking that Musso leave the store since she’s not wearing a mask. Musso repeatedly claims that she doesn’t need to wear a mask and it’s her legal right not to wear one. She also says that the store’s management is wrong to refuse her service if she’s not wearing a mask. The video is available on YouTube:
The Video Shows Another Customer Shove Her Cart at Musso as She Insists on Waiting for the Police Inside the Store
The video starts with Musso saying, “Okay, there you go, let’s record now.” She aims the camera at a customer wearing a mask, who shoves her cart toward Musso and says, “Please leave this f****** store!” Musso replies, “Oh, really. Wow. Okay, that’s harassment. I’m filing charges.” As the woman walks away from Musso, a store employee says, “Please leave, you’re trespassing right now and we’re asking you to leave, get out of the store. The cops are 100 feet away. They’ll be here soon.”
Musso then says, “She just almost physically threatened me,” referring to the incident with the cart, to which another customer says, “You’re physically threatening everyone else by not wearing a mask.” Musso then says that under the Colorado law, she’s not required to wear a mask. She says she’ll wait for the police to arrive and show them the law.
At one point a manager arrives and orders her to leave. He says, “Ma’am, it’s like you’re naked in my business. No shoes, no shirt, no mask, no service.” Musso says, “An order is not state law. You guys have no idea what legislature process is.”
Later in the video, she says, “I did nothing! I did nothing! I did nothing but not wear a mask, and look at all these Nazis in Nazi America. Nazi America! Oh my God, I love it!”
Musso Posted the Video on Facebook & Said She Was ‘Harassed & Assaulted’ Before Being Kicked Out of the Store
According to Towleroad, Musso accompanied her Facebook post with the caption: “I was harassed and assaulted, then thrown out of Molly’s Spirits in Lakeside, Colorado for not wearing a mask. A customer ran her cart into me, workers and managers shoved me and put their hands in my face. Lakeside cops did nothing. I asked cops to get her, so I could press charges and they refused.”
Musso told KDVR she was at the store with her mother to buy beer when she was asked to wear a mask. She told the outlet that she has a medical condition that causes anxiety and panic when she wears a mask. “I just really tried to stand my ground with that because I feel like it’s really important,” she said. “There are so many reasons why someone is not wearing a mask.”
The store’s owner, Rufus Nagel, told the outlet, “It’s not my place to determine what is and is not a health risk. I have to obey the rules and the laws. For me, it’s an issue of an out of control customer creating a scene in my store.” He said Musso refused his offer to bring items out of the store to her since she didn’t want to wear a mask.
The Liquor Store Posted About the Incident on Facebook & Also Said They’d Received Threats Since the Video Went Viral
On July 16, Molly’s Spirits posted on Facebook, writing, “We understand that tensions are high in nearly every aspect of life right now, which is part of the reason we’ve been so pleased to provide consistency for our staff and customers by keeping our doors open.” The post goes on to explain the extra measures the store’s taking to keep customers safe from COVID-19 and adds:
We also require our customers, staff and vendors to wear face coverings at all times in our stores. Molly’s provides masks for those who arrive without one and offers accommodations to those who cannot wear a mask with the option for curbside pickup, delivery or a personal shopper.
The post points out that Jefferson County is under an Emergency Public Health Order that requires all businesses to require face coverings for entry as of 5 p.m. on July 14. Colorado Governor Jared Polis has since issued a statewide mandate for all residents over the age of 10 to wear masks in public settings, effective at midnight on July 15. The executive order states, “indoor businesses must refuse service to people who are not wearing masks.”
The store’s owner told KDVR on July 16 that the store has received threatening phone calls since the video was posted. Nagel said, “People calling us telling us we’re Nazis and destroying the American dream or something like that. Honestly, we’re just trying to do the best we can.”
A spokesperson for the store told Heavy in an emailed statement that the store hasn’t pressed charges. The statement added that prior to the video, one of the store’s employees had informed Musso about the store’s policy and offered her a mask. The policy has been in place at Molly’s Spirits stores since mid-May, Heavy learned.
READ NEXT: China Is Plotting an EMP Attack on the U.S., Expert Peter Pry Claims in Op-Ed