A man was forcibly removed from a school board meeting by police after refusing to wear a mask on Monday.
Video footage of the incident shows two officers—both of whom were wearing face masks—attempting to march the man out of the public meeting in Mitchell, South Dakota.
The man appears to struggle as he is lifted out of his seat and seconds later one of the officers is seen drawing his stun gun from his holster, which was not used.
People at the meeting told Dakota News Now that the man was asked to either wear a mask or leave.
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He can be heard in a video telling officers “you’re going to have to drag me out.”
He continues: “You are sowing discord in our communities at every level.”
As police attempted to lift the man out of his seat, one of around 20 fellow attendees can be heard urging him not to resist.
He eventually left the library, where the meeting was being held, with the two officers.
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It follows a mask mandate imposed by the school district in July.
Joe Graves, Mitchell School District Superintendent, told the Mitchell Republic: “Never in my entire career as a superintendent have I had that happen before.
“The board said there is a masking mandate and everyone in the school building must wear a mask.
“We gave the gentleman fair warning of that and offered him a mask. He refused, so the board had to enforce the mandate.”
Police said they were investigating the incident but no charges have been filed. The force refused to confirm the man’s name as there was no arrest or charges filed in the case.
Newsweek has contacted the Mitchell Police Department for comment.
The incident comes after a security guard was repeatedly punched in the face during an altercation with a group of men who were asked to leave a bar for refusing to wear masks in Nebraska.
The 18-year-old staff member was attacked by patrons of Round One bar in Lincoln after they reportedly refused to use face coverings.
The group was asked to leave the bar several times for failing to follow an indoor mask mandate imposed by the county in July.
When the security guard followed them into the bathroom, one member of the group allegedly punched him in the face several times and stole his work badge before leaving, local media reported.
Earlier in September police were called to a similar incident in San Diego after a group of bar-goers were challenged over their refusal to wear masks.
Tony Aversa, manager of the 710 Beach Club bar, said he was pushed and punched by one customer after requesting he wear a mask.
A recent study by the Pew Research Center found 85 percent of U.S. adults have complied with mask-wearing rules in shops and other businesses.
There are more than 6.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and more than 194,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over 2.47 million have recovered from the disease.
