In Warrenton, Missouri, a man pulled a childish and disgusting stunt—with the potential to infect a wide swath of people. Cody Lee Pfister, 26, called out, “who’s scared of coronavirus?” before licking a row of deodorant at the local Walmart. (1)
The Response
Police took Pfister into custody after the video of him licking the deodorant sticks went viral on social media. A Facebook post from the Warrenton Police Department stated that:
This particular video, which won’t be shared here, has gained some international attention and we have received numerous reports about the video from locals, nearby residents, as well as people from the Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. We take these complaints very seriously and would like to thank all of those who reported the video so the issue could be addressed.
With the high transmissibility of COVID-19, it is no wonder that so many complaints were lodged. COVID-19 is a respiratory virus, which can be spread through discharge from the nose and mouth—which would include saliva. Since COVID-19 could live on surfaces for up to nine days, if Pfister had the virus, it could linger and infect other shoppers. (2, 3)
The Charge
Pfister was charged in court on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, with making terroristic threats, second degree, which is a class E felony. The terroristic threats charge was based on creating a belief of “danger to life” among those who had seen the video, as well as the possibility of “evacuation, quarantine, or closure” of the Walmart as a result of his actions.
This is not the first time Pfister has been charged with a crime. In 2013, 2016, and 2018, Pfister appeared before the court of Montgomery County, pleading guilty all times. The 2013 conviction was for robbery and stealing a firearm. In 2016, the charge was disorderly conduct. The last charge was a DWI—driving while intoxicated—for which he received only probation. Court records show that he broke the conditions of his parole and was subsequently imprisoned. (4, 5)
Defence
Cody Pfister’s lawyer, Patrick J. Coyne, is hoping that he can convince the court to see Pfister’s actions in a different light. In a statement on March 25th, Coyne said that “public conduct that was immature on March 10 looks completely differently through the lens of today. Everything has changed at warp speed, but that should not work retroactively and convert a tasteless and impulsive act into a criminal terrorist threat.”
The significance of the date is a vital point of Coyne’s argument. On March 11th, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The court documents say the video is from March 11th, the same day as this announcement. If the video was made on the 10th, as Coyne suggests, and only posted on the 11th, Pfister might be able to claim he was unaware of how much panic his video could cause. (5)
However. . .
Whether COVID-19 was a pandemic or not changes nothing. COVID-19 was still a highly infectious disease before it was a pandemic. To lick things in a store during an outbreak of infection—or even with no infection at all—still puts every immunocompromised person at risk.
