After nearly two hours of public comment, the Lewiston City Council voted against implementing a mask mandate for the city. This came after over 100 people arrived at the meeting Monday night to protest City Manager Alan Nygaard’s suggestion to implement a mask mandate due to rising COVID-19 cases in Idaho.
Many attendees of the meeting came as part of “Say No to the Mask Mandate,” an event run by Liberate Idaho organizer Heather Rogers. Rogers herself was not present at the protest.
“I think it’s a horrible injustice, what’s been done to the people of Washington,” William Boots said about the statewide mask mandate in Washington. “But by God, I don’t want it done here in Idaho. These types of mandates are pushing the free people to the brink.”
Protesters shared several opinions while at the podium of the meeting, many of which questioned the efficacy of masks preventing the spread of COVID-19. Some argued masks could cause oxygen deprivation, exhaustion and heat-related illness from breathing in toxic air. Others stated requiring masks goes against Constitutional rights or God’s will. Still others argued the time for a mask mandate had passed, the mandate would create a loss in revenue for local businesses or those at risk for contracting COVID-19 were responsible for their own health.
The American Bar Association said the 10th Amendment gives local governments the authority to control the spread of dangerous diseases within their jurisdictions. The 10th Amendment reads “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
In addition, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends wearing a mask in public, especially when social distancing is difficult. The CDC website states a cloth covering might not protect the wearer, but is likely to keep the wearer from spreading the virus. According to fact-checking website Snopes, those wearing a cloth face covering are at little to no danger of breathing in unhealthy levels of carbon dioxide, although breathing in too much of it can be dangerous.
Many protesters attending the meeting were from the Lewis Clark Valley or surrounding area and most supported striking down the mask mandate. Almost none of the protesters in attendance wore masks or practiced social distancing. Councilor Bob Blakey was the only councilor who wore a mask throughout the meeting. Rogers organized a protest calling for the removal of Blakey June 23 after he suggested the Lewiston City Council pass a resolution asking state legislators to allow Idaho cities more authority over firearm regulations at protests.
Jenny Kaiser wrote a letter to the council as well as driving two hours from her rural home to attend the protest.
“I prefer and enjoy to come and shop every month, but I can easily and will change my habits so that I only have to make quick trips every six months if masks are mandated,” Kaiser said. “While I am only one person, there are hundreds and hundreds of rural residents who will say the same.”
Another protester, whose name was not clear on the recording of the meeting*, said his wife and son both spent a lot of time in places which required masks.
The man’s son, a five-year-old, attends the Clarkston Boys and Girls Club, where people are required to wear masks. His wife, who works in Clarkston, is required to wear a mask as well.
“Every day I pick (my son) up at 3 o’clock. He’s beat. He goes to sleep on the way home. I (have to) shake him to keep him awake,” the protester said. “It’s not from playing. It’s ever since he started wearing a mask.”
Several community members who spoke in support of the mask mandate were met with shouts and jeers from the protesters. Steve Martin, one such community member, was repeatedly interrupted by members of the crowd responding to his speech.
“I’m at high risk, but I bothered to come out here tonight to tell you I want you to ensure that I’m alive,” Martin said. “I’m 65, I have type one diabetes and I’m at risk.”
A protester responded to Martin by saying: “It’s your job to take care of your own health. That’s not our job.”
Others added “You have the right to stay in your house” and “Put your mask on. No, don’t,” as Martin left the podium.
Similar scenarios happened several times. Lewiston Mayor Michael Collins repeatedly reminded attendees to keep order during the meeting and not to engage in arguments with each other.
Several Idaho cities have implemented a type of face covering mandate, including Moscow, McCall, Boise, Hailey, Ketchum, Victor and Driggs.
*Our reporter left the protest with the support of Summer Editor-in-Chief Lex Miller when she felt she was in harm’s way. She was unable to ask follow-up questions of protesters and finished reporting using the recording of the meeting.
The full Lewiston City Council meeting is available here.
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @antxiam5