Two brothers have been charged with assaulting two security guards after they started a fight as they were being escorted out of a store for not wearing a mask. 

What You Need To Know

  • Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer says people should be cited for not wearing a mask in public

  • He says people should follow health officials' guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19

  • The attorney recently charged two men with assault after they beat up security guards who was escorting them out of a store for not wearing a mask

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer tells Inside the Issues people need to start wearing masks when in public places and public facilities as a way to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, and that means there might be consequences for not following orders. 

“Obviously on the one hand, this case really exemplifies, in the most extreme case, the conflicts that arise regarding masks,” Feuer said. “But, there is a very basic issue that all of us have to contend with and that is: We know that wearing masks is essential for public health.”

Health officials have said wearing a mask could reduce the spread of the virus, and are encouraging all people to wear a covering when out, no matter where they live.

“It's now coming to our attention that it is more than just protecting the other person,” he said. “Which should be enough, in society, that we care enough about other people to protect them, but now we know it also protects the wearer of the mask and diminishes, even if they happen to get COVID, it diminishes the severity of the illness for them.”

Feuer said he believes agencies other than the police could help enforce a mask mandate, but the decision to implement consequences for not wearing a mask aren’t up to him. 

“I don’t have the unilateral power to put in place an enforcement scheme when it comes to masks. But I can envision what it might look like,” he said. “One might envision members of the city family, could be people who wear uniforms already from park rangers to those who issue parking tickets, who are out in the field, issuing what are called citations, which are essentially tickets, to people so there's a monetary consequence. It wouldn't be a criminal court proceeding, but a monetary consequence.”

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People should view wearing a mask as an obligation, he said. 

“I want our economy to get back. I want our kids to get back in school. I want daily life to return to normal and the frustrating aspect of this is: All of us in our community have the power to do that, according to new studies, essentially ourselves by doing one simple thing,” he said.

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