NC Senate Advances Bill With Increased Penalties On Those Who Wear Masks While Committing Crime

All those pro-Hamas demonstrations where lots were wearing masks caught the attention of the NC General Assembly

North Carolina Senate panel advances anti-mask bill

A COVID-era change that allowed people in North Carolina to wear a mask for health reasons moved a step closer to being removed from state law Tuesday.

Senate Judiciary Committee Republican voted in a voice vote with Democrats objecting to advance a law to enhance penalties for people who wear masks while committing another crime or for those who block traffic. House Bill 237 now moves to another Senate committee.

But the bill also removes a provision that exempts people who wear masks for health and safety reasons that was added in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.

And it was that part of the legislation that attracted the most opposition from Democrats on the panel and public speakers.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson County, said the bill is not intended to “prosecute granny for wearing a mask in the Walmart — unless she was sticking steaks in her bag.”

The bill comes after pro-Palestinian demonstrations and protests at the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in previous weeks. Many of the protesters wore masks throughout the demonstrations.

It had been against the law for people to wear masks in public, except for times like Halloween or for approved parades and demonstrations. Also, for certain jobs where it’s necessary. Likewise, if it was freaking cold. This whole “immunocompromised” thing? How often did you really see someone wearing one in public before COVID? Those few who did were wearing ones that actually made a difference. It wasn’t performance art like now. It certainly wasn’t a bunch of Brave protesters hiding behind COVID so they could hide their faces against consequences of being pro-Hamas and showing their Jew hatred.

Newton said his message to people who need to wear masks for health reasons or concerns was to wear them. But Sen. Natasha Marcus, D-Mecklenburg, said lawmakers had a obligation to write clear laws.

“We make sure that the bill says what we mean for it to say,” she said. “And, to be clear, this bill, by crossing out Section 6, says it’s not legal to wear a mask if you’re doing it for the safety of yourself and others, and that is an outrageous change to make. It’s not appropriate. You say, well, this wasn’t a problem before COVID. The world is different now.”

Yeah yeah yeah. Performance art. It’s mostly only COVID wackos who wear them now, and, if you follow them around you’ll see them remove them when the performance is over. And, really, if someone is wearing one for real reasons, they mostly will not be out in public. The few who do will pretty much be left alone by police. They don’t have time for that. But, stores can tell people to remove them if they so choose.

The bill would also create a new crime specifically for protests that block roads — a tactic some recent Black Lives Matter and pro-Palestinian protests have engaged in during demonstrations in Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and across the nation.

Don’t forget the climate wackos.

Liz Barber, with the ACLU of North Carolina, called Tuesday’s anti-mask bill part of a “broader attack on democracy.” She said the provision was unconstitutional because it imposed different punishments based on the content of speech or protest.

Good grief. These people. So tiresome.

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