A viral video shows a British man fighting a police officer on a train after refusing to wear a mask and allegedly coughing on passengers. Reddit commenters have dubbed the man a “Karen” for seemingly acting entitled and endangering other passengers.
At the beginning of the video, the officer stands over the civilian and talks to him about wearing a mask. The person holding the camera says, “Underlying health conditions, don’t have to wear a mask.”
“I do not have to wear a mask,” the civilian says. “And you do not have to challenge me either. It’s against the law to challenge me.”
The officer tells the civilian to get off the train to which the civilian replies, “I’m not getting off.”
The officer grabs the civilian’s arm, tries to pull him, and says, “Get off.”
“Who the fuck are you grabbing,” the civilian says. “Get off me. I told you ‘no,’ now get off me.”
The officer grips the civilian’s shirt and continues to tug him out of his seat. The civilian resists and yells at the officer.
“He hasn’t done nothing wrong,” the person holding the camera says. “Medical condition, medical condition.”
Others also repeat “medical condition” as the officer wrangles the civilian.
The two continue to tussle and the officer calls for assistance.
“He’s done nothing wrong,” the person holding the camera says. “You’re on a power trip here.”
The civilian says, “I told you I don’t have to fucking wear one” and tells the officer to get off of him as he resists.
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The British Transport Police, which did not immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment, tweeted on Friday that it was made aware of the viral video.
“Officers were called to reports of a man spitting at two passengers (2/9/2020),” the transport police tweeted. “A man has now been charged with a public order offence and assaulting an emergency worker.”
According to a public statement published Friday, officers “responded to a report of a man coughing at two passengers.”
One Twitter user called the civilian a “big baby.”
Another defended the man and said the officer was “power hungry.”