Two Florida men who threatened the staff of a Florida hotel with fines and arrests for asking the pair to wear facemasks in public areas were arrested for posing as federal law enforcement agents, a claim the men made to bolster their claim that they were exempted from wearing masks.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Walter Wayne Brown Jr., 53, and Gary Brummett, 81, told the staff of the Wyndham Deerfield Beach Resort in Deerfield Beach that they were allowed to not wear masks because they were federal marshals, and they threatened hotel workers with arrests and a “hefty fine” for insisting they wear masks.  They showed the staff fake cards, portraying them as official documents that allow them to forgo masks during the pandemic.

“Do you know what this means,” Brummett said to the hotel manager as he pointed to a badge clipped to his belt, according to the complaint. “I’m a U.S. marshal and can have you arrested if you force me to wear a mask.”

A worker became suspicious of the pair’s claim and contacted police, who responded with a real federal marshal who placed Brown and Brummett under arrest for impersonating a federal officer.  

When arrested in the resort restaurant, the pair had circular badges on their belts emblazoned with “Cherokee Nation Marshal,” but a check by genuine law enforcement officers show that there is no such federal force, nor were the men US Marshals.  

The pair also produced a card saying that they were members of Aniyvwiya Tribal Nation, but the Aniyvwiya Tribal Nation is not a federally recognized tribe independently or within the Cherokee Nation, according to Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.

Also, the cards the pair flashed to hotel workers claiming they were medical exempt from wearing masks were also fraudulent; the local state’s attorney noted that they were downloadable from the internet and had no legal authority whatsoever.