A man in Missouri found himself getting arrested on Monday and charged with making a terrorist threat after posting a video of himself licking items inside of a local Walmart amid the spread of the coronavirus.
According to NBC News, court documents state that Cody Lee Pfister posted a video of himself licking deodorants Walmart in Warrenton on March 11th. As he licked the packages, he asked, “Who’s scared of coronavirus?”
The Warrenton Police Department said that they received calls from local residents, as well as people from outside the country as they reported the video.
Lt. Justin Unger said, “We take this incident very seriously, especially with this infectious disease and the state that the country is in. We take these things seriously to protect our community.”
In the criminal complaint, it states that the suspect “knowingly caused a false belief or fear that a condition involving danger to life existed.”
Pfister’s attorney spoke with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and he said that the labeled COVID-19 a pandemic and that “public conduct that was immature on March 10th looks completely differently through the lens of today.”
Pfister appeared in court on Wednesday and is due back in May.
Roommates, what are your thoughts?