FORT WORTH, Texas — A man accused Texas gubernatorial candidate Allen West of hitting him in the face after the man told West to "put a mask on, idiot," at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport earlier this month, a police report said.
The man said he wasn't injured during the incident, but he reported the dispute to airport police and gave his account of what happened.
According to the report, West cooperated with police and said the man called him an idiot after he pulled his mask down to breathe better.
West said he reached over the man's mask and it pulled it down, asking him, "There ... now isn't that better?" according to the police report.
West told police that the man put up his fists, and West said he then walked away from the area.
The man accused West of calling him a "stupid white man" as he walked away.
No arrests have been made or charges filed in the case.
West tweeted about the incident on Nov. 3, the day it happened. West had arrived at the airport on a flight from Tallahassee, Fla.
He said a man had started yelling at him for not wearing a mask and that he walked over to him and pulled the man's mask down.
West also tweeted that he had spoken with airport police.
"There's no mask law, nothing has ever passed in the US House and Senate making wearing a mask law," West said.
Masks are required in airports and on planes.
West, a Republican who formerly chaired the Texas GOP, is challenging Gov. Greg Abbott for the Republican nomination in the 2022 election.
In October, he was diagnosed with pneumonia after testing positive for COVID-19. West, who said he was not vaccinated against COVID-19, received monoclonal antibody treatment and said he was "even more dedicated to fighting against vaccine mandates."
