Costco shopper who ignores mask requirement is booted from store by employee, viral video shows

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This guy must not be aware of the latest research.

A defiant Costco shopper filmed himself being booted from the big-box retailer for refusing to wear a face covering — and now the Costco employee who kicked him out is being praised on social media.

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The Costco member, who has been dubbed “Costco Kevin” on Reddit, had apparently been ignoring the superstore's very clear rules about face covering requirements when he was confronted about his lack of a mask by an employee identified as Tison.

The Costco shopper then started filming, telling Tison he was going to put the video on his “3,000-follower Instagram feed” of “mostly locals,” but the confrontation probably didn’t go as the customer was expecting.

WARNING: Clip contains profane language.

In the video, Tison can be seen speaking directly to the customer’s camera, addressing not only the customer, but any social media followers who might see the footage.

“Hi everyone. I work for Costco and I’m asking this member to put on a mask because that is our company policy,” said Tison.

“And I’m not doing it, because I woke up in a free country,” the shopper responded.

Tison then took away the customer’s shopping cart, telling him that he was “no longer welcome” in the warehouse. At this point, the customer briefly appeared to change his tune, saying he’d leave the store and allow his female companion to finish shopping (after instructing her to put on a mask herself), but then hurled a string of derogatory names at Tison as he walked away.

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The shopper later uploaded the footage to Reddit before removing it, according to MarketWatch. (Another Reddit user claimed it was “downvoted into oblivion,” prompting the shopper to remove it.) Despite this, the video has been captured and reposted on other social media accounts, including that of the ONLY iN LVNV Twitter account, where it has amassed 5.2 million views as of Wednesday morning.

Most of the commenters praised Tison for upholding the store’s policy, with some even urging Costco to give him a raise.

"God bless Tison and all the other folks working in retail, restaurant and other [service] industries... just trying to do their jobs and keep us safe," one user wrote.

Others, meanwhile, questioned why the shopper thought his freedoms extended into a Costco Warehouse.

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Despite removing the first video, the Costco shopper later issued another video, claiming he had “every f---ing right not to wear a mask” before repeatedly calling the other mask-wearing shoppers “sheep.” He also repeatedly stated that he was the only person in that Costco who was breaking the store’s face-covering rule, and tried to use this reasoning to defend his actions.

“… If everyone else is wearing a mask, then one person should be able to fly, if anything,” the shopper said.

A representative for Costco was not available to publicly comment on the video. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Costco, meanwhile, has been clear about its face-covering requirements for shoppers and employees since shortly before the rule went into effect on May 4.

“We know some members may find this inconvenient or objectionable, but under the circumstances we believe the added safety is worth any inconvenience,” wrote Craig Jelinek, president and CEO of Costco, in an open letter to its members just prior to May 4. “This is not simply a matter of personal choice; a face covering protects not just the wearer, but others too.”

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A representative for Costco told Fox News that the company had "no comment" on the incident.