Dollar-store guard murder after face mask altercation raises fears coronavirus activism is getting violent

Protest in Michigan — (Image credit: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images)

Calvin Munerlyn, a guard at a Family Dollar store in Flint, Michigan, was shot dead on Friday, and prosecutors have charged three people — a woman, her 23-year-old son, and her husband — with his murder. Shortly after Munerlyn told the woman, Sharmel Teague, her daughter couldn't enter the store because she wasn't wearing a mask, as legally required, two men returned to the Family Dollar and shot Munerlyn in the back of the head, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said Monday. Witnesses have identified the adult son, Ramonyea Bishop, as the one who pulled the trigger.

Police have arrested Sharmel Teague, but Larry Teague and Bishop have not yet been apprehended, The Associated Press reports. A day earlier, men carrying semiautomatic rifles had been among protesters who entered Michigan's capitol to protest coronavirus mitigation orders put in place by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) to smother the state's COVID-19 outbreak.

"The hostile tone that we have seen in recent days on television and in social media can permeate our society in ways we sometimes don't fully realize or anticipate," Leyton said Monday. "Decisions like staying home when we can, wearing a mask when going to the store, and staying a safe distance from those around us — these should not be political arguments." Other states have started to relax stay-at-home orders, and public health officials say the direct cost will be tens of thousands more deaths in coming months, CBS News highlighted Monday night.

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Also Monday, court records indicated that a man arrested early Friday for making pipe bombs told FBI agents he planned to use the homemade explosive devices to protect his home in case of an invasion, not to detonate at a May 1 coronavirus protest at Colorado's capitol, The Denver Post reports. Bradley Bunn, 53, had been involved in online discussions about bringing military-style weapons to the protest, though a law enforcement official told the Post those discussions were not what prompted the raid. Bunn faces up to 10 years in prison in convicted of bomb-related charges.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.