VIDEO: Woman attacks, coughs on Uber driver after he refuses service to her, two other women for not wearing masks



A woman was caught on video attacking an Uber driver in San Francisco and coughing on him after he refused service to her and two other women riders for not wearing masks Sunday afternoon, KPIX-TV reported.

What are the details?

San Francisco police also told the station that one of the women discharged what's believed to be pepper spray into the vehicle and toward the driver after leaving the vehicle.

The video was shot by the driver, identified as 32-year-old Subhakar Khadka, and shows women in the back seat cursing him out, KPIX said. The woman who coughed on the driver also grabbed his cellphone from the center dash area and ripped off his face mask, the station said.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @KPIXtv

The video begins with one woman yelling at the driver, "F*** the masks!" while pulling hers off and then coughing directly behind him. A second woman is heard saying she has "corona" and also coughs toward the driver. A third woman was wearing a mask in the clip, and all three had them, so it's not clear why all of them didn't have masks on.

The driver is heard telling the women to leave, which they don't want to do.

Here's the clip. Content warning: Profanity:

UBER DRIVER COUGHED ON, ASSAULTED & PEPPER SPRAYEDAn @Uber driver was assaulted & coughed-upon by a group of wom… https://t.co/wV2sVsfLvU
— KPIX 5 (@KPIX 5)1615265964.0

Ethnic bias accusation

Khadka told KPIX he believes he was targeted because he's a South Asian immigrant.

"I never said anything bad to them, I never cursed, I was not raised that way. I don't hit people, I am not raised that way, so they were not getting out of my car," Khadka said.

KPIX said he drove to a nearby gas station so they could buy masks for the ride — but Khada said racial slurs and taunting had already commenced.

"If I was another complexion, I would have not gotten that treatment from them," he added to the station. "The moment I opened my mouth to speak, they realized ... it's easy for them to intimidate me."

What's more, he told the station after the woman finally got out of his vehicle, the woman in red pepper-sprayed him — and he had to get out, too, because it became hard to breathe.

San Francisco police noted to KPIX that the driver regained possession of his phone, and the three women fled after the attack.

Caught!

KPIX-TV said in a follow-up story that Las Vegas police apprehended 24-year-old Malaysia King Thursday afternoon in connection with the incident, adding that the other suspect — 24-year-old Arna Kimiai — told police through her legal counsel that she intended to turn herself into authorities.

King was charged with assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery conspiracy, and violation of health and safety code, the station said.

The station said Kimiai posted video from her perspective behind Khadka where she claims he tried to get her and her friends to exit his car while on the freeway.

KPIX also reported that Kimiai apparently posted a video on social media following the incident. It's a bizarre one that includes much boasting about how lucky the driver was that nothing else happened to him and that Uber would be getting sued. "Where my check at?" the woman in the clip asks.

Content warning: Language:

California anti-masker who coughed on a driver says she plans to sue Uber https://t.co/IjlGs0wnRg
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@Fifty Shades of Whey)1615308182.0

'Relief'

"It's a sign of relief we are getting there and we are one step closer," Khadka told KPIX after getting word about King's arrest. "I believe they should be lawfully punished – whatever our law says over here."

What's more, a GoFundMe campaign set up for Khadka has eclipsed the $71,000 mark as of Friday afternoon.

"I am blown away seeing that from community," he told the station. "I would like to use it for attorney fees if I may need in future, and some of that money will go toward family maintenance."

Khadka's wife and son are in his native country of Nepal, KPIX said, adding that he uses money earned while Uber driving to help support them.

Anti-mask protesters converge on Target in viral video: 'We're not gonna take it!'



A throng of anti-mask protesters converged on a Florida Target earlier this week encouraging shoppers to remove their masks.

Video footage of the incident went viral on social media shortly thereafter.

What are the details?

While walking down the aisles of the Fort Lauderdale Target, the group shouted, "Take your masks off!" and "Yeah! Take it off!"

At least one member of the group held up his cellphone, which blared Twisted Sister's, "We're Not Gonna Take It."

Another member can be seen wearing what appears to be a red Trump campaign hat.

At one point during the video, one of the women in the group can be seen gesturing at a group of children who aren't wearing masks, yelling, "Look at these kids."

"Let them be an example!" she can be heard yelling.

One person not in the group can be heard off-camera, saying, "f***ing idiots."

According to WSVN-TV, the group kicked off their march in the parking lot of the store.

The station reported that a male protester shouted, "Who here is sick and tired of having to wear one of these things every time you go into a store? Now, here is the bottom line: if someone wants to wear a mask going to a grocery store, then let them wear a mask, but how is it that if their mask is working that I have to wear one, too?"

In a statement to the station, a Target representative said, "Target requires guests to wear masks whenever they're shopping in our stores. … We're aware of the group of guests who came into the store last night, and we asked them to leave after they removed their masks and became disruptive and rude to shoppers."

(Content warning: rough language)

Anti-maskers in Florida invade a Target https://t.co/Z8TWbl8ihD
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@Fifty Shades of Whey)1600225852.0

'These selfish a**holes'

Twisted Sister's frontman, Dee Snider, shared the video on his Twitter page, writing, "No...these selfish a**holes do not have my permission or blessing to use my song for their moronic cause. #cutthes**t."

On Wednesday, Dr. Robert Redfield, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that face masks are even more likely to protect the public from COVID-19 when compared with a vaccine.

“Face masks, these face masks, are the most important, powerful public health tool we have, and I will continue to appeal for all Americans, all individuals in our country, to embrace these face coverings," Redfield said during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Appropriations. “I've said that if we did it for six, eight, 10, 12 weeks, we'd bring this pandemic under control. We have clear scientific evidence they work, and they are our best defense."

At the time of this reporting, reports say the state of Florida has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases per capita with more than 35,000 cases per 1,000,000 people.