An Oregon State trooper has been put on leave after defying a state mandate and not wearing a mask inside a coffee shop.
The trooper is said to have used profanity and scoffed at the mask mandate when he and other troopers were asked to wear one.
"Oregon State Police troopers are not above the law and this conduct is being immediately addressed," Travis Hampton, superintendent of the Oregon State Police, told CNN.
Robert and Kathryn Morgan, who own Allan’s Coffee and Tea in Corvallis, said four Oregon State troopers entered their coffee shop without wearing face masks.
And The Oregonian reported the store’s assistant manager, Travis Boss, said he told one trooper that a mask was needed.
“Governor (Kate) Brown has no authority to take our civil liberties. We aren’t going to wear masks,” the trooper allegedly said, according to a statement Boss provided to the newspaper.
And Boss said the trooper offered a foul-mouthed opinion of the governor’s mandate that masks be worn within indoor public spaces.
Oregon State Police Capt. Timothy Fox told CNN that the trooper who allegedly made those statements is currently on administrative leave while an internal investigation is being conducted.
None of the officers are not being named at this time, he said.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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