Former child actor Ricky Schroder has apologized for arguing with a Costco employee over the store’s mask rules, in a video that he recorded and posted on his own social media channels.
The original video shows Schroder berating a masked supervisor outside a Costco in California, after the supervisor refused to let him into the store without a mask.
“Why aren’t you letting me in?” Schroder says in the video. “Nationwide, Costco has said you don’t need to have masks.”
“The mandate in California has not changed,” says the supervisor, whose name is Jason.
Schroder then goes on to complain about “our kings, the people in power,” who made the mask rules in California. “You’re gonna listen to these people?” he says. “They’ve ruined our economy.”
Schroder then demands a refund for his Costco membership, and urges all others to do the same until Costco lifts the mask policy.
“This hasn’t changed in any building in any company in California,” the supervisor says. “Costco is simply abiding by the law, and that’s the law.”
Schroder’s anger and confusion appear to stem from the recent announcement by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which said that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask, except in places where it is required by local or state law. California and Los Angeles County remain under mandatory mask rules, as the Costco supervisor points out in the video. Costco has also pledged to follow local guidelines wherever they remain in place.
Schroder apologized to the Costco employee in an Instagram video posted on Sunday.
“Jason, nothing personal,” Schroder says in the video. “I understand that you were following their laws and rules. I was trying to make a point to the corporate overlords and sorry that I had to use you to do it. And if I hurt your feelings, I apologize.”
He then launched into a more extended complaint about coronavirus rules.
“I do think independence from medical tyranny is more important than hurting people’s feelings and so I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, but I want us all to be free.”
The Silver Spoons and NYPD Blue star often posts about far-right causes on his Instagram page, and previously boasted about donating to the bail fund for Kyle Rittenhouse, the militia member who allegedly shot and killed two people in Kenosha, Wis., last summer.
He recently posted a warning letter from the Transportation Safety Authority (TSA) for a separate incident involving coronavirus rules, which seemingly happened before the mask mandate was lifted. The letter describes how Schroder repeatedly failed to comply when he was told to wear a mask on a flight at the Los Angeles County Airport on Apr. 27.
“We are in an all or nothing conflict with Medical Tyranny,” Schroder wrote in a caption on the letter.
The U.S. has begun to ease some coronavirus restrictions after vaccines, lockdowns and mask-wearing helped the country curb the spread of COVID-19.
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