A Missouri man was arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat after he recorded himself licking personal hygiene items on a shelf in a Walmart store.
Cody Lee Pfister, 26, posted a video of himself licking a row of deodorants at the Warrenton Walmart on March 11. “Who’s scared of coronavirus?” he asked as he licked the items.
Pfister was identified by outraged citizens and arrested on Monday, March 23.
The Warrenton Police Department announced the arrest on its Facebook page, saying police received calls from concerned local residents, as well as foreigners in the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom to report the video.
“We take this incident very seriously, especially with this infectious disease and the state that the country is in,” Lt. Justin Unger told NBC News. “We take these things seriously to protect our community.”
Pfister’s attorney, Patrick J. Coyne, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his client’s behavior was “immature” and “impulsive” and he shouldn’t be treated like a criminal.
That “public conduct that was immature on March 10 looks completely different through the lens of today,” Coyne said. “Everything has changed at warp sped, but that should not work retroactively and convert a tasteless and impulsive act into a criminal terrorist threat.”
Pfister is being held in jail without bail. He appeared in court Wednesday and his next hearing is set for May.
Be careful out here. The Mayo Militia is out in full force#smh pic.twitter.com/RYtjBziNG4
— Tariq Nasheed ?? (@tariqnasheed) March 23, 2020
