An Illinois state legislator, who was following coronavirus guidelines to cover his face with a mask and his hands with disposable gloves while in public, was stopped and questioned by a Chicago police officer as he exited a retail store.

NBC Chicago reports Democratic State Rep. Kam Buckner said the incident occured at a store on the city’s South Side and that the officer stopped him and asked about the items in his cart as he left. He told the officer that he had just purchased them, but was then asked to produce the receipt. After his identification was checked, the 34-year old asked why he was being questioned.

“He said ‘I can’t see your face man,’” Buckner said. “‘And you look like you may be up to something.’ ”

Buckner described the entire incident in a series of tweets that drew a juxtaposition between what many people of color have feared since the mask mandate has been employed in many states: following the guidelines or being racially profiled.

Chicago police did not confirm whether or not a member of the department was actually involved in this exchange and pointed back to the fact that Buckner refused to reveal the name of the store where the indicent occured. Without that information, Chicago Police spokesman Rocco Alioto said there's not much more they can do. 

“All investigatory stops must be predicated on reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred, is occurring or is about to occur,” Alioto told the Chicago Sun Times.

Still, the department reiterated that “reasonable suspicion” is required before being stopped and questioned.

“All investigatory stops must be predicated on reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred, is occurring or is about to occur,” the CPD said in a statement. “Anyone who believes that they may have been treated unfairly can submit a complaint to a CPD supervisor, CPD’s Office of Internal Affairs, and/or the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.” 

The department says it will look into what happened. Meanwhile Buckner says everyone should learn from the incident.

“With everybody wearing masks, it begs the question: what standards are you using to decide who is suspicious and who is not?” he asked. “We’re all on edge. We have to take the time to make sure that we aren’t letting our nerves, mixed with our biases, make us make bad decisions.” 

Buckner hopes that others can learn from what happened to him. 

“If this is a spark to create better community police relations and kind of bridge some gaps and start some connectivity, I’m all for that, it would have definitely been worth it."