A couple was yanked off a ferry and arrested in New York City this Saturday after refusing the captain’s requirement that all passengers wear masks. The NYPD says the couple was headed home to Bay Ridge after a night in Manhattan, Gothamist reports.
The couple reportedly argued with the captain for over an hour before they were booted off the boat, claiming that it’s their constitutional right to go maskless because they both suffer from medical conditions, making them exempt.
Ferry riders are turning on the maskless couple. The two cops seem to be split on what to do pic.twitter.com/z0BgYdUYpu
— Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) September 6, 2020
When police arrived, the man told them that the captain of the boat was “shaming” him and his wife and that they were being “discriminated against.”
His wife agreed.
“If we were f***ing Black, I can guarantee you that guy would never come out and tell us put a mask on,” she told Gothamist.
“Right, because Black Lives Matter,” her husband added.
As the argument carried on, ferry passengers began to grow impatient, yelling at the couple to either put on a mask or get off the boat. When the cops finally decided to bring out the handcuffs, the man briefly resisted but then complied.
They’ve been handcuffed and removed from the boat. pic.twitter.com/jD9eO0cCnR
— Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) September 6, 2020
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