Crime: Anti-Mask Protester Punches Masked Cancer Patient in Front of Medical Clinic (VIDEO)

Red tide outbreak, fox attack, Confederate statue removed: News from around our 50 states

Coast Guard rescues three people off coast of New Hampshire; chemical leak at Texas water park causes skin irritation, respiratory issues, and moreStart the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

An anti-mask protester in California is under fire for more than just her unorthodox medical beliefs after she was caught on video striking a masked woman who identified herself as a breast cancer patient by hitting her in the chest during a heated demonstration outside of a treatment center.

© Provided by Law & Crime Kate Burns being punched by Shiva Bagheri

Anti-mask demonstrators appear to have been gathered outside of the Cedars-Sinai Breast Health Services building in West Hollywood Thursday to protest the facility’s rule that all persons who enter building wear a mask, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Mask Mandate Debate Is Back. Here’s What to Know.

Amid the Delta-fueled wave of U.S. COVID cases, universal mask mandates are back on the table and as politically fraught as ever.A week ago, Los Angeles County became the first major metropolitan area to reinstate a mask mandate in indoor public spaces for both unvaccinated and vaccinated residents. And amid a nationwide surge of new COVID-19 fueled by the more transmissible Delta variant, America’s largest county isn’t the only place where universal mask mandates are back on the table. The Delta wave has thus reignited the already politically charged debate over face mask mandates.

Prior to the physical altercation, a self-identified breast cancer patient — subsequently named as one Kate Burns — who said she receives her treatments at the clinic had a testy exchange with some of the protesters.

Various videos posted on social media portray the following scene of events.

“I’m a cancer patient. I get treated here. Get the fuck away,” Burns says to a group of protesters holding anti-vaccination signs on the sidewalk in front of the clinic.

A male protester then asked Burns why she is so angry.

“Because I’ve just gone through fucking breast cancer and you motherfuckers are here,” Burns shot back.

Burns also had a quick response for another male protester who said the demonstration had “nothing to do” with Burns.

St. Louis Mask Mandate Reissued, Effective Immediately for Indoor Public Places, Transit

"[The vaccine] can't protect you from being infected with COVID-19 and passing it onto someone else, someone who may be more vulnerable," St. Louis county executive said.Masks are required for everyone, even people who are fully vaccinated, as St. Louis County Executive Sam Page explained the mandate extended to those who received the vaccine as it does not prevent the virus from being passed to someone else.

“You are protesting a breast cancer fucking center. It has everything to do with me and my community,” an incensed Burns said in the recording. “Do you know anything about chemotherapy? Do you know what happens to the immune system?”

The anti-maskers are arguing with a cancer patient. pic.twitter.com/FESqF32u9P

— Vishal P. Singh (They/He) (@VPS_Reports) July 22, 2021

Various recordings from the scene suggest that tension between the protesters and the counter-protesters continued to escalate, culminating with a female protester punching Burns at least once in the chest.

According to one of the videos, the female anti-mask protester was holding a megaphone up to Burns’s face and speaking into it when a counter-protester standing near Burns reached over and shoved the megaphone out of the anti-mask protester’s hands. The anti-mask protester then appeared to try and go after the counter-protester who touched the megaphone — but Burns blocked the way, leaned in slightly, and bounced the anti-mask protester back with her shoulder.

Thailand sends COVID-19 patients to hometowns by train

BANGKOK (AP) — Authorities in Thailand began transporting some people who tested positive for the coronavirus from Bangkok to their hometowns on Tuesday for isolation and treatment to alleviate the burden on the capital’s overwhelmed medical system. A train carrying more than 100 patients and medical workers in full protective gear left the city for the northeast. It will drop patients off in seven provinces, where they will be met by health officers and taken to hospitals. Medical authorities in Bangkok said Monday that all ICU beds for COVID-19 patients at public hospitals were full and that some of the sick were being treated in emergency rooms.

The female anti-mask protester then punched Burns in the chest and attempted to strike her a few more times while ripping the cancer patient’s mask off and discarding it on the ground.  It’s unclear from the chaos in the video whether the attempted additional blows made contact with Burns, but Burns said on Twitter that she was “hit twice.”

Burns posted video of the altercation to Twitter with the caption, “Just another day in the bad place.”

Just another day in the bad place pic.twitter.com/s3IUQcXWX9

— Kate Burns (@Katerqburns) July 23, 2021

Burns also said that the protester’s blow to her chest struck her directly where she has scars from cancer treatment surgeries.

Yep- I am the cancer patient- maced and hit twice in my surgery scar… this IS the bad place

— Kate Burns (@Katerqburns) July 23, 2021

Several Twitter users identified the female anti-mask protester as Shiva Bagheri. Bagheri apparently began organizing Beverly Hills Freedom Rallies to protest pandemic restrictions last year; she has previously been recorded using a megaphone to pronounce anti-mask conspiracy theories.

Anti-mask protesters forced a Florida school board to postpone a meeting about back-to-school requirements

About 20 anti-mask protesters gathered at the Broward County School Board headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Tuesday, forcing a postponement of a discussion on mask requirements for the upcoming school year, a school board member told CNN. © WFOR Anti-mask protesters gathered at the Broward School Board headquarters before a board meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on July 27. "Folks weren't wearing masks and refused to follow the rules -- rules that people have followed for the last year and a half," School Board Member Sarah Leonardi said of the protesters.

Bagheri appeared to confirm her role in the altercation in a series of Twitter exchanges with users criticizing the conduct attributed to her.

“If she didn’t hit me first I wouldn’t have done that,” Bagheri wrote. “I told her not to touch me and then she slammed her shoulder against me.  I could actually arrest her for assault.  I’m nice enough not to do that. If she does it again I will.”

Some of Bagheri’s tweets defending her conduct are below:

If she didn’t hit me first I wouldn’t have done that. I told her not to touch me and then she slammed her shoulder against me. I could actually arrest her for assault. I’m nice enough not to do that. If she does it again I will.

— Shiva Bagheri (@ShivaDiva45) July 24, 2021

Watch the video. She slammed me with her shoulder and I pushed her back. Then she walked towards me again and I pushed her back again. This lady is very aggressive. I didn’t want to hurt her.

— Shiva Bagheri (@ShivaDiva45) July 24, 2021

No. She slammed me with her shoulder and I pushed her back and then she walked towards me and I pushed her back again. Big difference.

— Shiva Bagheri (@ShivaDiva45) July 24, 2021

Bagheri also accused Burns of being a “crisis actor.”

“Ask her why she was out there counter protesting us and getting in our faces?” Bagheri wondered aloud.  “If she’s so worried about her cancer what is she doing there? She being so aggressive? I wonder how much money she got paid to do this. Crisis actor.”

If we want kids back in school and the economy to prosper, more of the US needs to get vaccinated, expert says

The United States is facing a pivotal moment in the coronavirus pandemic, given that the Delta variant is spurring surges in cases and hospitalizations: It must increase vaccinations or risk magnifying the impact, the surgeon general said. © Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images First grade student Daniel Cano, 5, and his mom, Sonia Cano, walk past Covid-19 safety precaution, social distancing and hand washing signs at a L.A. Unified "meet and greet" with its medical advisers.

Ask her why she was out there counter protesting us and getting in our faces? If she’s so worried about her cancer what is she doing there? She being so agressive? I wonder how much money she got paid to do this. Crisis actor.

— Shiva Bagheri (@ShivaDiva45) July 24, 2021

She later suggested that Burns “doesn’t have cancer.”

You love putting single mothers in danger. You don’t care about children. You will dox places where I teach kids because you like to hurt kids. You guys are truly sick people! You know that lady doesn’t have cancer. She’s antifa! A true cancer patient believes it’s dangerous

— Shiva Bagheri (@ShivaDiva45) July 24, 2021

Various other videos posted to Twitter alleged to show “bear mace” being used during another incident at the scene.

Anti-vax protestor assaults members of the community, a credentialed media person (me), and cancer patient @Katerqburns with bear mace to their faces. Notice the community member assisting the cancer patient to safety. @misstessowen @chadloder @VPS_Reports @PlasticJesus9 pic.twitter.com/rKhGii6MWn

— Rocky Romano (he/him) (@directedbyrocky) July 24, 2021

Other videos show the police breaking up the scene.  It’s unclear if any arrests were made.

The Cedars-Sinai Medical Center did not respond to Vice when that website requested a comment about the incident and inquired whether any subsequent security protocols would be forthcoming.

[image via Twitter screengrab]

The post Anti-Mask Protester Punches Masked Cancer Patient in Front of Medical Clinic (VIDEO) first appeared on Law & Crime.