Shoppers banned from Walmart after flaunting swastika face masks in store

A couple were caught on video wearing face masks with swastikas on them while shopping at a Walmart in Minnesota. The woman wearing a swastika face mask claims she's "not a Nazi."

A man and woman were seen on video at the checkout of the Walmart in Marshall, Minn. On Saturday, the couple were wearing red face masks with large swastikas in the middle. The video was posted to Facebook by Raphaela Mueller, and it has since gone viral on several social media platforms.

"You can't be American and wear that mask," a witness is heard saying in the video. "We literally had a war about this."

"I'm not a Nazi," the woman wearing the swastika mask responds. "I'm trying to tell people what's going to happen in America. If you vote for Biden, you are going to be in Nazi Germany. That's what it is going to be like... socialism is gonna happen here in America."

The Marshall Police Department responded to several calls regarding the couple wearing the masks at the Walmart. Marshall PD Sergeant Jason Buysse said the 59-year-old man and the 64-year-old woman were issued a notice of trespass. Police said the couple left the store without further incident, according to the Star Tribune.

Walmart issued a statement regarding the incident:

"What happened today at our store in Marshall, MN is unacceptable. We strive to provide a safe and comfortable shopping environment for all our customers and will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment in any aspect of our business. We are asking everyone to wear face coverings when they enter our stores for their safety and the safety of others and it's unfortunate that some individuals have taken this pandemic as an opportunity to create a distressing situation for customers and associates in our store."

The trespass notices issued to the couple prevent them from visiting any Walmart facility for one year, according to KARE.

Walmart started requiring customers to wear face masks on July 20. Walmart, as well as other retailers such as CVS, Walgreens, Home Depot, and Lowe's, walked back their mask mandates last week. The retailers won't enforce their mask requirements because there were several confrontations between anti-mask customers and other patrons or employees. The companies want to avoid potentially dangerous encounters over people who don't want to wear masks.

"With every requirement there are exceptions that have been established to avoid escalating the situation and putting our associates in harm's way," a Walmart representative said. "Our goal is to keep associates from a physical confrontation in the stores."