The brief clip went viral after it was posted on Twitter by Florida based documentary film director Billy Corben.
“Florida man at Fort Myers Costco in ‘Running the World Since 1776’ shirt flips out on elderly woman who asked him to wear a mask and man who defended her,” Corben wrote alongside the video.
The clip starts as a male voice is heard telling the man: “We are six feet away from you.”
But the man responds: “You’re harassing me and my family… and I feel threatened.”
He is then seen approaching the camera and yelling: “I feel threatened! Back off! Threaten me again… Back the f*** up. Put your f***ing phone down.”
Corben’s video has amassed almost 900,000 views since it was posted online late on Monday.
In a follow-up tweet, Corben said the incident took place at the Costco in the Gulf Coast Town Center, a shopping mall in Fort Myers.
He added that one of the customers involved said that Costco employees escorted the man in the video out of the store.
“To give Costco the credit, they escorted him out and made me wait inside and monitored him until he left and then they send someone with me to the car to make sure I’m okay,” the customer said, according to Corben.
Corben and Costco have been contacted for additional comment.
The incident comes after another video filmed inside a Costco location over mask-wearing amid the coronavirus pandemic went viral. That video showed an employee taking away a customer’s cart and asking him to leave over his refusal to wear a mask.
In May, Costco implemented a policy requiring all workers and customers to wear masks or face coverings.
“To protect our members and employees, effective May 4, all Costco members and guests must wear a face covering that covers their mouth and nose at all times while at Costco,” Craig Jelinek, the president and CEO of Costco Wholesale, said in a message to the retail outlet’s members.
“We know some members may find this inconvenient or objectionable, but under the circumstances we believe the added safety is worth any inconvenience. This is not simply a matter of personal choice; a face covering protects not just the wearer, but others too,” Jelinek added.
The requirement does not apply to children under the age of two or to those who are unable to wear a face covering due to a medical condition.
Cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, are soaring in Florida. More than 206,000 confirmed cases and 3,778 deaths reported in the state, according to the latest figures from the Florida Department of Health.
