Update: SEPTA reportedly said Friday that it is no longer enforcing the policy demanding transit riders cover their faces.
A video going viral on social media Friday shows Philadelphia police forcibly removing a man from a bus after he did not have a mask.
The video, posted by the Philly Transit Riders Union, shows several officers involved in the incident, physically pulling a rider off of a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) bus and trying to subdue him briefly after.
He is then let go, and it does not appear that the police issued him a ticket or arrested him.
“I want all y’all fuckin’ badge numbers,” the upset man said as he appeared to be calling someone on his cell phone.
do riders know that they might be pulled off a SEPTA bus by 10 cops for not having a mask? pic.twitter.com/NnHXJC02E8
— Philly Transit Riders Union (@phillyTRU) April 10, 2020
According to local media organization WHYY, the Philadelphia Police Department is investigating the incident.
A previous video posted by Philly Transit Riders Union shows a man ordering riders off the bus and threatening to call the cops on a passenger who won’t leave.
throwing off riders for not having masks. Are masks a requirement for riders? this dude’s not wearing one pic.twitter.com/2IXtnI5dkO
— Philly Transit Riders Union (@phillyTRU) April 10, 2020
This incident comes after Philadelphia police announced that due to coronavirus, they would stop arresting people for “non-violent” crimes including burglary and drug offenses. (RELATED: WATCH: Man In Medical Mask Sucker Punches Police Officer In NYC)
SEPTA said earlier in April that after three transit workers died from coronavirus that stricter mask measures would be implemented, Penn Live reports.
“We are going to enforce. Not only can an operator of a vehicle refuse a rider who doesn’t have a mask on, we will also have members of our transit police making sure,” a SEPTA general manager told the local CBS affiliate.
SEPTA reversed the decision Friday to force transit riders to wear face masks or other facial coverings, according to the CBS3 and The Philadelphia Inquirer.