Store owners arrested in violent showdown with police over Covid mask ban in their Bowral, NSW shop

Dramatic moment two organic food shop owners shout abuse at police as they’re arrested after refusing to allow customers to wear masks – and turning away anyone who has received the jab

  • Footage has emerged online of Bowral shop owners in violent clash with police
  • The Organic Store in NSW Southern Highlands has banned mask wearing
  • Posts from its Instagram page also say those who are vaccinated can not enter 
  • Vision shows the owners wrestling with cops before being bungled into a van
  • Mask use is mandatory in all indoor venues across NSW due to Covid rules 

The owners of an organic grocery store have been arrested in a violent confrontation with police over their refusal to allow mask use inside their store for ‘hygiene reasons’.

Video of the confrontation on Thursday afternoon in the New South Wales town of Bowral showed the female owner of the store being bundled into the back of a police van by two police officers.

When the male owner of the store stepped in to object to her arrest, he was grabbed by officers, slammed into the back of the van and then wrestled to the ground.

On the store’s Instagram page, which contains a number of posts opposing mask use and questioning Covid-19 vaccines, the owners explained the strife had begun inside the store when police were called about the shop’s opposition to mask use – stated on a sign outside.

The Organic Store in Bowral are very open about their anti-Covid views, with a chalkboard outside the shop banning customers who have recently had vaccines or are wearing a mask – which is mandatory in New South Wales

‘For over 1.5 hours the police discussed this with owners,’ the post said.

‘A customer and a friend decide to film the discussion – that’s when it all kicked off.

‘They refused to allow the filming and forcibly tried to remove her from the store.’

The owners accused an officer of putting her hands behind her back and pushing her from the store.

The video showed the male owner of the store approaching officers as they tried to put the female owner into the police van, and he asked ‘what has she done?’ as the officers warned him to ‘walk away’.

After the woman was pushed inside the van, the owner was immediately grabbed by an officer, to which he shouted ‘don’t touch me’ as the woman filming can be heard calling out ‘Mark, Mark!’.

One of the store's owners (pictured) is seen in a clash with police

They tried to arrest him in Bowral, after being alerted by the public that the shop had banned mask-wearers

One of the store’s owners (pictured, left and right) is seen in a clash with police as they tried to arrest him in Bowral, after being alerted by the public that the shop had banned mask-wearers

Officers then pushed the owner against the back of the van with enough force to  knock the cap from his head, and pushed a hand into his face.

One officer warned him to ‘stop resisting, you’re under arrest’ and he replied ‘what about this fat bloke’ in reference to another officer.

The man, who was being held by two officers, was then tripped by a third and pushed face first to the footpath.

Since the lockdown was imposed by the New South Wales government on Saturday, all people entering shops, workplaces and any indoor public space must wear masks when inside.

The female store owner (pictured) was bundled into a police van by cops during the dramatic clash

The dramatic footage (pictured) was filmed by a customer

The female store owner (pictured, left and right) was bundled into a police van by cops during the dramatic clash

However the store in Bowral in the NSW Southern Highlands, had a sign up opposing that policy, telling customers not to wear masks and saying that people who had taken any vaccine in the previous two weeks should not enter.

The Organic Store’s Instagram page included previous advice from the NSW government that people who should not wear masks include ‘anyone who has trouble breathing wearing a mask.’

The page also had a number of posts opposed to the use of vaccines to combat Covid-19.

NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia they did not comment on individual incidents, but we’ll issue a daily release of Covid breaches on Friday.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk