GALVESTON, Texas — An Oregon woman who was recorded on police body camera video refusing to wear a mask at a Texas bank last week was arrested Wednesday after declining to wear a mask inside another Texas business.
Terry Wright, 65, already had a warrant out for her arrest after she refused to wear a mask in a Bank of America branch in Galveston, Texas, last Thursday. On the video, she taunts the officer, asking if he’s going to arrest her.
Police arrested Wright on Wednesday after she entered the Office Depot in Texas City and said she would not cover her nose and mouth to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, police spokesman Cpl. Allen Bjerke said. She was arrested on Galveston warrants for trespassing and resisting arrest, Bjerke said.
Wright, of Grants Pass, Oregon, was taken into custody without incident, Bjerke added, noting that she was not charged for trespassing at the office supply store and that no additional charges were expected.
Gov. Greg Abbott last week lifted statewide orders requiring people to wear face masks in public in Texas, declaring businesses should decide for themselves which COVID-19 precautions to take on their properties. Many businesses have kept their own mask rules in place.
In the widely seen video of Wright’s confrontation with the officer at the Galveston bank, Wright stands in the bank’s lobby, surrounded by other customers, all of whom were wearing masks.
The officer asks her to go outside or put on a mask. She refuses.
“What are you going to do, arrest me?” she asks.
He replies: “Yes, for intruding on premises.”
“That’s hilarious,” she responds.
As the officer took out handcuffs, she pulled away and began to walk toward the door. The officer stopped her and forced her to the ground to handcuff her.
Wright’s bond was set at $3,000 on the misdemeanor charges, police said. She was held in the Galveston County Jail on Wednesday afternoon.
