In a heavy-handed move by law enforcement, thousands of masks meant to protect protesters from contracting the coronavirus have been seized.
As mass protests continue across the nation against racial injustice and police brutality, the coronavirus pandemic has nearly been forgotten. But it’s still raging, and more than 109,000 Americans have died from it. And these protests are the perfect breeding ground for new outbreaks to occur.
That’s why an organization established in 2014 after the police killing of black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri bought thousands of masks to ship to demonstrators.
According to Huffington Post:
The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) spent tens of thousands of dollars on the masks they had planned to send all over the country. The first four boxes, each containing 500 masks, were mailed from Oakland, California, and were destined for Washington, St. Louis, New York City and Minneapolis…”
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But in what could be considered an act of biological warfare, law enforcement has seized the packages.
The loss of the masks exposes protesters to the virus every time they participate. It’s almost as if law enforcement is using the coronavirus to break up the protests, which would be a violation of their oath to protect and serve the public.
These masks did not threaten the safety of the police. They are not a weapon, but a measure of self-protection from a virus that has already killed too many Americans. Of course, police also likely seized them because they don’t want protesters to have any protection at all from tear gas.
“Police have rioted coast to coast, beating and gassing protesters who have called for an end to police violence, with the explicit approval of President Trump,” Movement for Black Lives spokesperson Chelsea Fuller said in a statement. “Now, it appears they want to ensure that people who protest are susceptible to the same deadly pandemic that they have failed miserably at stopping. The continued surveillance and disruption of social movements under this administration is as chilling as it is dangerous. It should be roundly condemned.”
Law enforcement should be ashamed of themselves, and they not only owe the Movement for Black Lives the money spent to procure these masks, but they also owe the organization a public apology.
Featured image via screen capture
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