OK, granted. The woman in the above image is not one of the women referenced in the headline, but it does add to the absurdity of the story, which reads like one of those old “Two guys walk into a bar…” jokes.

Except when it was over, nobody was laughing.

The festivities began on Saturday in Costa Mesa, California, when two women allegedly walked into a grocery store — without wearing masks.

Here’s how the Orange County Register couched its headline.

2 women arrested on suspicion of trespassing during anti-mask rally in Costa Mesa

But the OCR’s own report belied the “suspicion of trespassing” thing:

Two women were arrested on suspicion of trespassing during an anti-mask rally in Costa Mesa Saturday afternoon, Aug. 15, authorities said.

Costa Mesa police were called to Mother’s Market, at 1890 Newport Blvd., by a manager reporting the trespassers before 2:15 p.m., police spokeswoman Roxi Fyad said.

It was unclear what the protesters did to get arrested. Their identities were not immediately released by authorities.

A rally had been taking place adjacent to the store near Newport Boulevard and 19th Street since 11 a.m., with demonstrators protesting COVID-19 restrictions, police said.

In other words, the two unmasked women simply walked into the store, which BlazeTV host Elijah Schaffer described, this way.

CALIFORNIA: Multiple people arrested for not wearing masks

A few people decided to walk into the Mother’s grocery store in Costa Mesa without a mask

The store manager then locked them in & called the police

who came in & arrested them for being in public without a mask pic.twitter.com/SLgTJlmZC2

— ELIJAH RIOT (@ElijahSchaffer) August 15, 2020

This ER doc had a different take:

Wearing a mask is patriotic, but residents of Orange Co. #California are still fighting the mask mandate. Multiple #COVIDIOTS walked into @MothersMarkets grocery store in Costa Mesa w/o masks & were arrested. Lock’em up and fine them😷💰 170,000 deaths!pic.twitter.com/ItcTd9dvdw

— Cleavon MD (@Cleavon_MD) August 15, 2020

“COVIDIOTS.” How cute.

Attorney Ron Coleman said the store manager “may have a problem.”

That store manager and that store may have a problem

— Ron Coleman (@RonColeman) August 16, 2020

The California Penal Code appears to clearly substantiate Coleman’s legal opinion, given that the events transpired as they appear.

WHAT IS FALSE IMPRISONMENT?

False imprisonment occurs when you unlawfully deprive another person of his or her personal liberty.

EXAMPLES OF FALSE IMPRISONMENT:
• You prevent someone from leaving by grabbing that person’s arm;
• You lock someone in a bedroom;
• You tie someone to a chair.

So the battle over “to mask or not to mask” continues. From the mask-police Karens — hilariously on display, here — to entire states and their respective law enforcement agencies, emotions continue to run hot.

Speaking of mask police and law enforcement, the city of Del Mar, California, is stepping up its enforcement of mask-wearing by hiring part-time deputies to work two days a week for the next four months to enforce the mask order, as reported by the DC Patriot.

California Hiring Part Time Deputies To Enforce INSANE Citations on Beaches, You Won’t Believe How Much! (VIDEO) https://t.co/zveb8wuJea

— Matt Couch (@RealMattCouch) August 14, 2020

“Nick” expressed the sentiments of those opposed to being forced to wear masks in public by contrasting it with the hypocrisy of rioters, many of whom have gone about their nightly rampages, sans masks.

“So the people vandalizing national monuments, burning churches, federal buildings, looting stores and beating people in the streets are getting a pass, but because these happily paying customers won’t wear a muzzle to appease fake science and Karen’s they are being arrested?!”

So the people vandalizing national monuments, burning churches, federal buildings, looting stores and beating people in the streets are getting a pass, but because these happily paying customers won’t wear a muzzle to appease fake science and Karen’s they are being arrested?! 😳

— Nick (@nickeesota) August 15, 2020

Incidentally, “way back” in May, I reported on the following recommendation from no less than the (infamous) World Health Organization:

“If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19.”

Fox News analyst Brit Hume also noted the WHO recommendation.

This is from the WHO website now. Note who it says should wear a mask and when. https://t.co/V4dSLOZsd4

— Brit Hume (@brithume) May 29, 2020

While the debate rages, it’s good to know that California’s finest are out there rounding up dangerous maskless criminals on a daily basis, huh?

Meanwhile, there’s always Portland.