Anti-mask protesters interrupted a roundtable discussion held by the governor of Connecticut on the start of the 2021-2022 school year.
Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, hosted the roundtable Wednesday at Highland Elementary School in Cheshire, joined by a group of education stakeholders and public health officials.
“I was surprised to see young mothers with two 7-year-olds, one in each hand, shouting vulgarities and being as rude as they were,” Lamont said of the incident. “We’re all sitting there, we’re trying to keep their kids safe. We’re trying to do it in the best way we can possible, and it’s not Connecticut.“
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#BREAKING: @GovNedLamont’s Back to School Rountable was hijacked by anti-mask parents who kept shouting at Lamont and the panel of local and state educational leaders in Cheshire. @FOX61News pic.twitter.com/BmJfYMRWoN
— Matt Caron (@MattCaronTV) August 25, 2021
The protesters used “bullying tactics,” said Lamont spokesman Max Reiss.
“These bullying tactics will not change what we all know to be true and agreed upon by both the scientific and academic communities: masks work and they help to keep our communities safe, especially young children who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated,” Reiss said.
Democratic State Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo criticized state Republicans for displays akin to the “extremism of the Trump era.”
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“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,” she said. “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,” she added. “Today, I am calling on the Chairman of the Connecticut Republicans to exercise his leadership and to denounce this disruptive and hostile behavior.”
