Video: Man harasses Jimmy John's workers, wishes death on them over mask mandate

A video posted to Reddit on Monday shows a man wishing death upon workers at a Minnesota Jimmy John's. 

Rochester Mayor Kim Norton earlier this month declared a local emergency requiring people to wear face masks in all indoor public areas, regardless of vaccination status, amid the surge in COVID cases caused by the omicron variant. The mask mandate went into effect on Jan. 16 and is set to expire on Feb. 7.

And a man who walked into Jimmy John's was not happy the sandwich shop was enforcing the mandate. 

Here's the 3-minute video, which was posted to the r/RochesterMN subreddit, as well as shared on other subreddits r/PublicFreakout and r/antimaskers:

"You can't help me without a mask even though the order, declaration by Queen Jezebel herself, clearly says there is room for medical exemptions," the man, who is filming the interaction, says to the workers behind the counter. He's apparently referring to Mayor Norton as Queen Jezebel. In the Bible, Queen Jezebel disregarded the rights of the common people.

A worker responds but it's hard to hear (they're masked), but it sounds as if they are saying the man can order outside to get a sandwich. 

"You're saying I can't be in here, that's what you're saying," the man responds. "You're saying I cannot be in this public space without a face paper on, that's what you're saying."

Another employee speaks to the man about following the rules. 

"I'm following the rules," the man said, adding: "You can't serve me without a diaper on my face, is that what you're saying?"

The employee corrects him, saying it's not a diaper but a face mask. And the man responds: "A face covering. An effective face covering. What's effective?"

The man goes on to criticize the employees' masks and an employee responds, "You're not going to convince us, we're not going to convince you."

"What are you guys afraid of? Why do you wear it?" the man asks. "Are you afraid of something?"

Then a third employee walks up and tells the man, "We're not serving you. Please leave." 

The first employee remarks they've gone over this five times and the man responds, "Five times? Why don't we go over it 100 times? When are you going to start using that brain inside of your head."

An employee says they have the right to refuse service to him and the man says they could trespass him, "That's everybody's end around on this," he added.

The man goes on to say he doesn't need a mask on and then states, "Well clearly Jimmy John's in Rochester Minnesota does not need any more damn business, I'll make sure of that," the man says. 

He then mocks an employee's comment that the world-renowned Mayo Clinic is the best hospital in the world and the employee says to leave. 

"Just leave, that's what it's come to," the man says. "Well, I hope you all are proud of yourselves and I hope you die a thousand deaths a day because that's what's going on. Have a good day."

The man then walks out and turns the camera on himself to say, "I tell you what. I'd like to swear right now but I'd like to keep it decent. This is what it's come to in Rochester, Minnesota, the town with the guy said 'the best hospital in the world,' so Jimmy John's no more gets our business. Just wanted to show you all what we're dealing with here, again, in Queen Jezebel's land of tyranny."

It's unclear where the video was first posted and who the man is — he did not identify himself. It's also unclear which Rochester location this incident occurred. There are three in the city. 

This rant on Jimmy John's workers comes as restaurants in cities with mandates have asked for grace and customers to be kind to workers who are tasked with enforcing them.