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The footage shows a police officer entering the Bank of America branch in Galveston and telling the woman the bank can deny her service if she doesn’t put on a mask. She insists that she doesn’t have to and the officer tells her that she will be arrested for “trespassing on the premises” if she refuses to cooperate or to leave the bank. Eventually, the officer handcuffs her and pulls her out of the bank.
Terry White, 65, told KTRK that she walked into the bank without a mask and was asked by an employee if she had one. White replied, “No thanks, I don’t need it,” and the employee gave him a mask.
When White refused the mask, she said she was asked to leave.
“I said no, I just want to close my account and then I’ll leave,” she told KTRK. “(The employee) says, ‘Well, if you don’t go I’m going to call the cops.’ I said, ‘Well, do what you got to do.’ “
Galveston Mayor Craig Brown told CNN the woman was arrested for trespassing – “not for not wearing a mask.”
Police say White has been charged with criminal trespassing and resisting arrest, according to KTRK.
CNN contacted White but had no response. Neither the Galveston Police Department nor the Bank of America responded to requests for comment.
What the pictures show
Body camera footage shows a Galveston policeman entering the bank and confronting the woman on Thursday, telling her, “Ma’am, if they ask you to leave, you must leave.”
The woman tells the officer that she is trying to withdraw her money. The officer responds by telling her what the officer says she must always “play by the rules”.
“Businesses have the right to refuse service, even if you are not wearing a mask. It’s their choice, ”said the officer.
“What are you going to do,” she asks, “stop me?”
“Yes, for interfering in the scene,” said the officer. He tells the woman to come out.
The woman insists that she is in a public place (“It’s a private business,” the officer says) and accuses the officer of “taking away people’s human rights”.
A brief struggle ensues as the woman initially appears to resist as the officer begins to handcuff her. Soon she’s on the bank floor, telling other people inside the bank, who all appear to be wearing masks, “Police brutality, people.”
“No,” they say. “No it is not.”
The officer takes the woman out of the bank. She says she thinks the officer broke his foot and the officer is calling emergency medical services. He places her in the back of a patrol car before the end of the sequence.
Reopening is a ‘delicate balance’, says mayor
In an interview on Friday, White told KTRK that she drove to Galveston in her RV and was aware of the governor’s order to lift the mask warrant. KTRK reported that White was glad she held on and was “very opposed” to masks, saying at one point, “I won’t wear this layer on my face.”
“Many businesses, restaurants and shopping areas here on the island still require, or require, that all their customers and clients wear masks,” said the mayor of Galveston Brown. “This particular incident was a lady who refused to do it, the bank said it was their policy.”
“It’s a delicate balance,” he added, to maintain safety as the seats open up. “That’s why we always encourage everyone on our island to maintain a social distance and wear their mask.”
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