Man in viral Florida Costco video defends himself after outburst during face mask argument

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Daniel Maples said he doesn’t like wearing a mask because it’s uncomfortable. “After a while I start to feel like I'm suffocating. I get claustrophobic and that's an issue for me,” Maples said. “I prefer not wear the mask. It's something that causes me a lot of distress.”

Infectious disease experts say wearing a mask is one of the best actions, along with social distancing and hand washing, to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Maples said there also was an unrecorded interaction between him and the man who recorded the video.

“I never yelled at an old lady,” Maples said. “I remember someone saying something to me about 'I have cancer, I have cancer.' I replied, 'Well my father died of cancer,'" he said. "I didn't understand why she was yelling at me about that.”

During the interaction that wasn’t recorded, Maples said he was confronted by multiple people for not wearing a mask in the store.

"It was like the mob was gathering around me and I felt threatened," Maples said. "I wanted to remove myself from the situation and I did.”

He walked away from the confrontation to meet his party at the front of the store when the man who recorded the video came toward him in an aggressive manner with his phone out, Maples said.

After the incident, Maples said he was asked to leave the store by a Costco employee and he complied.

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