A defiant anti-masker was dragged out of a South Dakota school board meeting by police for refusing to wear a face covering, according to footage shared on social media.
The man, identified as Reed Bender, was asked repeatedly to wear a mask at the Mitchell Board of Education meeting Monday before cops were called to the scene, local newspaper the Mitchell Republic reported.
Video shared on Facebook then shows an officer explaining to Bender that he is in violation of a district-wide policy that requires wearing masks on school property — and says he doesn’t want to have to forcibly remove him from the building.
“I know you don’t want to do it, but unfortunately, you have to follow these fool’s rules, right?” Bender fires back.
The father-of-two then tells the two Mitchell Police Division officers called to the scene he will not leave willingly — and calls the incident “disgusting.”
“Force me out. You’re going to have to drag me out,” he says, according to the footage.
The officers then take Bender by the arms to escort him out, with one officer seen pulling out his Taser as the dad resists.
“You’re going to have to Tase me in front of all of these people,” Bender says, as stunned parents urge him to stop resisting.
Before the meeting started, the board’s president Deb Olson, announced that masks were available for anyone in attendance who did not have one, according to the Mitchell Republic.
Bender, who was sitting in the front row of the meeting, has spoken out against the district’s mask mandate in the past.