The man who was filmed in an angry outburst in Costco has been fired.
On Tuesday, both “Costco” and “I FEEL THREATENED” were trending after the clip went viral.
It showed a man at a Fort Myers store in Florida, later identified as Daniel Maples, lashing out at two fellow shoppers, reportedly after being asked to wear a mask.
“We’re six feet away from you,” the man recording him says as Maples, unhappy with the camera on his wife and child, replies: “You’re harassing me and my family.”
“I feel threatened!” he then roars, suddenly advancing aggressively. “Back up! Threaten me again!”
The 17-second clip does not show what lead up to the incident, or the aftermath; it was shared by Florida-based documentary maker Billy Corben, racking up more than 8.2million views in just 19 hours.
He said the incident occurred on June 27, pointing out what many online had already noticed, his “Running the World Since 1776” t-shirt.
Corben said one of the customers Maples was arguing with told him: “To give Costco the credit, they escorted him out and made me wait inside and monitored him until he left and then they send someone with me to the care to make sure I’m okay.”
On Tuesday, Maples’ employer Ted Todd insurance announced via Twitter he had been fired over the incident.
“Thank you to everyone for their comments and messages raising awareness about a former employee at Ted Todd Insurance,” the company wrote. “Their behavior in the video is in direct conflict with our company values and their employment has been terminated.”
“Threatening behavior and intimidation go against our core mission to be trusted advisors in our community,” it concluded, adding it was “committed to immediately reviewing our internal existing culture at TTI”, and asking that further feedback be emailed to its HR department.
Company CEO Charley Todd added “He absolutely does not represent our values and no longer works at our agency…. Wear a mask. Be love.”
Retweeting all the firing notices, Corben then appeared to mock the now-unemployed Maples, sharing a picture of him in a Toy Story Halloween costume at a work event, with the caption: “Dan at work in happier days. #BecauseFlorida.”
