MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami-Dade Police are looking into an assault that a Metromover rider said he suffered at the hands of two women after his initial refusal to wear a mask by security.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, said he was hit and slashed while getting off at a stop in downtown Miami on Tuesday afternoon.
“Upon exiting the train, the first step I took, I was struck in the face and the neck area by the woman, and the security guard could clearly see what was going on,” he said.
He said it all started with some confusion over the mask mandate.
He thought after a recent executive order signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, masks were no longer required on public transit. But when he got on the Metromover…
“I was told to put my mask on by the security officer,” the man said.
He told 7News he did put his mask on, but then began to speak to the security guard about why he thought he didn’t need it.
“I have a problem with the fact that he’s taking my rights away from what the governor has now removed the restrictions immediately to not wear a mask, and he’s making me wear a mask,” the man said.
“The approach here is showing Florida leading the way,” DeSantis said.
The executive order signed by the governor on Monday suspends all local emergency orders related to COVID-19, but as the Miami-Dade County mayor explained in a statement, “a federal mask mandate remains in place for public transit.”
The man said as he was having the discussion with security, two other people on board got involved.
“Then there were these two ladies who were sitting next to there and started making comments to me that were inappropriate,” the man said.
He said that’s when he grabbed his phone and started recording.
The man and the two other passengers can be heard having a verbal altercation about him filming them.
When he gets off, his phone is seen getting hit, and he said that’s when he was also physically injured.
He called police and reported what happened, but said he’s upset about how security handled the situation.
“An assault actually occurred in his presence, and he didn’t do nothing about it,” he said.
The names of the two women on the cellphone video have not been revealed.
7News reached out to Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works for comment, and they have yet to respond.
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