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A Colorado woman filmed an interaction she had with store employees—calling several of them Nazis—and customers who repeatedly asked her to leave after she entered without a face covering.
"Nazis! Look at these Nazis," the woman, identified as Ruby Musso, is heard saying in the video she captured.
Musso posted the video to her Facebook page late Wednesday evening and said she was "harassed and assaulted, then thrown out" of the store for not wearing a mask.
The incident occurred at Molly's Spirits, a boutique alcohol shop with two locations in the Denver area, after Musso said she had entered the store in Lakeside with her mother to shop for beer.
Things escalated when staff members approached her, asking her to wear a mask. Musso maintains that she has a medical condition and that wearing a mask causes her panic and anxiety.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced Thursday that a statewide mask mandate would go into effect at midnight, requiring everyone 10 and older to wear face coverings when they are in public indoor spaces. The move is part of a strategy to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, which is on the rise in Colorado.
"We have a very small window to turn this around and save lives and prevent damage to our economy," Polis said during the news conference. "We're really on the knife's edge."
But the new mandate was not yet in effect when Musso went to Molly's Spirits, and she repeatedly insisted that it was "not the law" for employees to deny her service.
This is untrue, according to an executive order Polis signed June 4. The order provides "discretion to employers...to deny admittance or service and require the removal of any individual who fails to wear a medical or non-medical face covering."
Signs posted outside the Molly's Spirits store explicitly state, "Masks required at all times in Molly's Spirits. Thank you for your cooperation!"
In Musso's video, several employees repeatedly tell her they will deny her service and ask her to leave the store.
"Ma'am, it's like you're naked in my business. Please leave," one employee told Musso. "No shoes, no shirt, no mask, no service."
Musso eventually left after the same employee told her he would press charges when the police officers arrived. As Musso exited the store, a group of employees waved her off.
"Look at all these Nazis, in Nazi America. Nazi America!" Musso shouted as she walked outside.
A police car is seen waiting in front of the store before the video abruptly ends.
In an email to Newsweek, Mollie Cook, marketing director for Molly's Spirits, said the store has not pressed charges.
"As far as we know, Ms. Musso has not either," Cook wrote.
When Lakeside police spoke with Musso, "she refused to show them her ID," Cook told Newsweek.
"After speaking with the police, [the store owner] asked Ms. Musso what she had wanted from the store and offered to go in and get it for her personally," Cook added.
Newsweek contacted the Lakeside Police Department for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
Molly's Spirits owner Rufus Nagel said the store received threatening phone calls Thursday after Musso's video circulated widely on social media.
"People calling us telling us we're Nazis and destroying the American dream or something like that," Nagel told news station KDVR. "Honestly, we're just trying to do the best we can."
In a statement posted to its Facebook page, Molly's Spirits said it requires all customers, staff and vendors to wear face coverings at all times while inside.
"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 statement read.
Nagel told KDVR the incident went beyond the contentious debate over whether masks are necessary. "For me, it's an issue of an out of control customer creating a scene in my store," he said.
But Musso said other customers who had been wearing masks acted aggressively toward her.
In the video Musso captured, one woman is seen trying to push her shopping cart directly into Musso. The same woman is then seen flipping off Musso while walking away.
"I would never do that to somebody who's wearing a mask," Musso told KDVR. "I would never do that to somebody in any circumstance ever."
According to a Friday post on Musso's Facebook page, she has received "hateful and evil messages and comments condoning assault and harassment."
Newsweek contacted Musso for further comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
This story has been updated to include comments from Mollie Cook, marketing director for Molly's Spirits.
