A 13-Year-Old Boy Stabbed a Man After Being Asked to Put a Mask On: Police

A 13-year-old boy allegedly stabbed a convenience store clerk after he was told to put on a mask. 

Winnipeg police said the assault happened on Friday at 3:50 a.m. after the boy entered a convenience store without a mask. 

“When he was asked to wear one, the youth became upset and stabbed the employee after purchasing several food items,” Winnipeg police said in a report. “The incident was determined to be unprovoked.”

The man was taken into hospital in serious condition but has since been upgraded to stable. The boy was charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. He remains in custody.  

This isn’t the first time precarious workers have been the victims of violence after asking customers to wear a mask. 

Last May, Calvin Munerlyn, a 43-year-old dollar store security guard in Michigan, was shot in the head and killed during an altercation with a person not wearing a mask in the store. A few months later, in July, a Michigan man who was declined service because he wouldn’t wear a mask in a convenience store stabbed a 77-year-old customer and was then shot dead by police. In October, two Chicago sisters allegedly stabbed a security guard who asked them to put on a mask 27 times. 

In Canada, several anti-mask protesters have been charged with assaulting police officers. In November, a two people were charged with assault after attacking a Walmart employee in Dawson Creek, B.C., who asked them to wear a mask. In the same month, a clerk at a Nelson, B.C., hotel had a heart attack after being spit on after refusing to help a customer who wouldn’t wear a mask. Last week a video went viral showing Burnaby, B.C., Canadian Tire employees roughly subduing a man who wouldn’t wear a mask nor leave their store, employees say the man became violent punched them several times. 

Going into stores without a mask is one of the most popular forms of protest of anti-maskers, who at times do it in large groups. They typically film themselves getting into confrontations with the store workers and then post them online.

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