Police Break-Up Face Mask Protest at Texas Mall, Arrest One Man
On 12/29/20 at 12:37 PM EST
An unplanned but organized protest by anti-maskers at a Texas mall ended in one man being arrested last week, police have said.
San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) said mall security and an off-duty officer were confronted by members of the group at North Star Mall last Tuesday.
Eric Matthew Braden, aged 39, was arrested as officers dispersed the small group. He was later charged with criminal trespass on private property.
Cell phone footage posted on social media appeared to show people waving a U.S. flag and singing the national anthem as officers made the arrest.
Photos: (from left) Matthew Braden and Lakota Tripp
The second of two Kansas men, who stole vehicles to make their way to Arkansas and ended up crashing one of them in the parking lot of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie at Midway, pled guilty to the charges against him in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Twenty-one-year-old Matthew Braden was sentenced to six years probation and ordered to pay $2,500 restitution for damage done to a sign at the Eagles Aerie.
The other man involved in the incident, 24-year-old Lakota Tripp was sentenced to five years in the Arkansas Department of Correction, with three suspended and two to serve in December last year.