By Joseph Wilkinson
New York Daily News
GALVESTON, Texas — She wasn’t banking on this outcome.
A Texas woman was arrested Thursday after refusing to wear a mask in a bank.
The Bank of America branch in Galveston, about 45 miles southeast of downtown Houston, required all customers to wear a mask, even after Gov. Greg Abbott officially lifted the state’s mask mandate Wednesday.
Terry White, 65, decided the rules didn’t apply to her, and bank employees called police, local ABC affiliate KTRK reported. The following interaction was recorded on a Galveston Police officer’s body-camera.
The cop explained to White that private businesses could still require customers to wear a mask, even after the statewide mandate was dropped, and told her, “If they ask you to leave, you have to leave.”
“We’re gonna do this the easy way or the hard way,” the officer said.
“What are you gonna do, arrest me?” White asked.
“Yes, for intruding on the premises,” the cop answered.
The officer asked White to step outside, and she refused. He then attempted to grab her arm, and she turned to walk away.
“Ohhhh, don’t do that,” the cop said. He then attempted to handcuff White. She fought back, and he wrestled her to the ground.
White complained to the other customers about police brutality, but they responded by siding with the cop.
White was formally charged with resisting arrest and criminal trespass, according to KTRK. She was unapologetic in an interview with the station, saying she doesn’t believe in the pandemic.
More than 46,000 people in Texas have died from COVID-19, and 2.6 million people have died worldwide.
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