This week, a group of angry anti-vaccine parents interrupted a school meeting in Cheshire and confronted Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, chasing after him and screaming for the governor to “unmask our children.”
The incident took place after Lamont joined educators and public health officials on Wednesday for a discussion about the new school year.
The meeting was meant to unify a plan to get students back in the classroom, but it ended abruptly after anti-mask parents who don’t want their children to wear masks showed up to express their opinions.
At the beginning of the meeting, it appeared parents came to listen, but then it started to get disruptive as some started yelling.
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When it got to the part of the meeting where people would be able to ask questions, it got out of hand.
At one point, Cheshire’s superintendent tried to calm things down.
“This is a reflection of how we can’t have a civil dialogue,” said Superintendent Jeff Solan.
That didn’t work. Then, more parents started yelling at the governor and the group of educators, and the meeting came to an abrupt ending.
“These bullying tactics will not change what we all know to be true and agreed upon by both the scientific and academic communities,” Lamont said after the meeting. “Masks work and they help to keep our communities safe, especially young children who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.”
Last week, Lamont announced that there would be mask mandate at schools until Sept. 30 because of the increase in COVID cases and the Delta variant.
“I see what’s going on Georgia. I see what’s going on in Florida. I see what’s going on in Texas. I see a lot of kids being sent home and quarantined, not having a chance to be in the classroom. I am here to listen how we can best keep our schools open and kids in the classroom,” Lamont said.
But anti-maskers are fighting preventive measures, claiming it infringes on their freedom.
Susan Zabohonski from the group “Parents Choice” said: “We believe that masking of children should be left to the parent. We believe that every health decision should be left to the parent.”
Meanwhile, Physicians said that without masking, there could be high risk of transmission in classrooms, simultaneous infections among children, and further risk of breakthrough infections among vaccinated teachers and staff.
“Masks are a very valuable stopgap as we wait for vaccines especially for younger kids,” Dr. Luke Davis, a pulmonary and critical care physician said.
“When you’re talking about classroom settings when you have children crowded together and with teachers and other staff in schools, that’s a setting where there’s greater risk,” Davis said.
Davis was among several medical professionals in Fairfield who sent a letter to the state Board of Education weeks ago, urging it to adopt a mask mandate in schools.
Later in the day on Wednesday, the Connecticut Democrats issued a statement:
“The Connecticut Republicans like to say they are past the extremism of the Trump era. But mask protests like today’s in Cheshire are happening across the state. Disagreeing on policy is part of our process. But this behavior, and similar protests at recent Board of Education meetings in Bristol and Fairfield, has no place in political discourse. Local officials are increasingly concerned for their safety. Today, I am calling on the Chairman of the Connecticut Republicans exercise his leadership and to denounce this disruptive and hostile behavior.”
Watch the report below from local station Chanel News 12.
