A man in the UK was punched in the face after he briefly removed his mask to speak to his elderly mother on a train while his assailant yelled at him to put the mask back on.
The incident happened in Blackpool on September 4 but is only now receiving media attention as police have yet to make an arrest. The victim, who is in his 60’s, removed the mask so he could speak more clearly on the phone to his mother, who is in her 90s and hard of hearing. He was immediately approached from behind by a man in his 30’s about 5ft 6in tall who demanded he cover up his face. When the victim refused, he was immediately punched in the face, leaving him with a badly bruised eye socket.
“This was a shocking attack on a man who was simply trying to speak to his mother, who is hard of hearing,” said PC Laura Alves, of Lancashire Police. “We urgently need to speak to the man in the CCTV still and I would ask that anyone who recognises him to contact police.”
As we have previously highlighted, despite innumerable experts asserting that masks are largely pointless in stopping the spread of coronavirus, the wearing of them has become almost status symbol. This has led to countless incidents of petty enforcers harassing people, and in some cases, violently attacking those they deem to be flouting the rules.
