A Baltimore police officer was caught on video intentionally coughing without covering his mouth while walking past a woman recording him, potentially spreading the coronavirus if he is infected.
” I should call the CDC and let them know he did some dirty shit like that,” said the woman.
The woman who is black also claimed she was safe because “you all get that shit, black people don’t” in reference to the coronavirus but she could not have been more incorrect. In fact, black people are more likely to be affected and to die from it, according to the the USA Today.
Since the coronavirus began infecting people in the United States, various people have been arrested for similar acts but the cop is not under criminal investigation. He is under departmental investigation which usually amounts to nothing.
According to the Washington Post:
“After watching the full video, in its entirety, it is not only disturbing, but incomprehensible,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said in a statement to The Washington Post Tuesday, “especially considering the high-level of strong and clear guidance that we have provided from the beginning, regarding COVID-19.”
The residents milling several feet apart in the yard jumped back with surprise and revulsion when the officer started coughing in proximity to them. They shouted at the officer and told him to get away, as the Baltimore police sergeant continued walking along the sidewalk.
The woman said she wasn’t worried about catching the novel coronavirus because she is black, repeating a myth that has been debunked by the World Health Organization. In fact, data shows that anyone can contract the virus, regardless of race, and black communities in some cities have seen higher death tolls.
The officer joins the ranks of those who have flouted coronavirus precautions and taken actions that could potentially exacerbate the pandemic. Apparent attempts to intentionally spread the virus, whether authentic or made in jest, have led to serious consequences including arrests and even terrorism charges.
In Pennsylvania, a grocery store threw out more than $35,000 worth of food after a woman intentionally coughed all over the produce, deli and bakery sections. A New Jersey man coughed on a grocery store employee after she asked him to back away from the counter and was charged with making terroristic threats. A man who posted video of himself licking a row of deodorant sticks for sale in a Walmart also faced criminal charges in Missouri. And police arrested a Texas teenager after she threatened to “infest” everyone at a store after claiming to have tested positive for coronavirus.
Like many police departments across the country, the Baltimore Police Department has been hit hard by the virus which apparently is unaware cops are a protected class. One thing is certain, if the woman had coughed on him, he probably would have beaten and arrested her.
Currently, 115 Baltimore cops are under quarantine with 12 cops testing positive and another 59 tests still pending, the Post reported. Watch the video below.