OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A video that has gone viral on social media shows a maskless man who was quietly sitting at a school board meeting in Webster, N.Y., Tuesday evening being roughed up and dragged out by a school security guard.
The video, which can be seen below, shows the security guard walking up to the man who is seated and paying attention to the meeting. The security guard speaks to the man for a few seconds, though it is not clear what is being said.
The guard then grabs the rear of the man’s chair and drags it back before then proceeding to grab the man by his jacket, clawing at him until the jacket has completely been removed. Afterward, the man then stands up and faces the security guard.
The Daily Wire notes further:
The woman taping the video is heard yelling, “What are you doing?! What are you doing?! Holy crap. Holy crap.” Another woman says to the security guard, “Do you put your hands on our children, too?”
The security guard then points to the door and crowds the man as he tries to sit back in his seat. While the man is sitting, the security guard forcefully grabs the chair with one hand under the seat and the other on the back of the chair and continues to push forward until the chair is sufficiently tipped for the man to be tipped out, though he does land on his feet.
Then two security guards, including the man who tipped the man out of the chair, push the man out of a back door as the man tries to resist his exit. People are heard yelling, “What are you doing?” and “Do you do that to the kids?”
Next, a police officer calmly walks out of the door to where the man has been physically removed from the meeting.
Later, in a video that was posted to the Facebook page of a group called “ROC for Educational Freedom Public Page,” a woman who was at the school board meeting said that the man roughly ejected from the meeting had to seek medical attention at a local urgent care clinic afterward.
“She also explained that the maskless man was approached by the security guard while a student was in front speaking. The school board, she said, always brings up children who ‘love the school’ and ‘love the superintendent’ to speak when there is a hot issue parents want to voice concern over, adding that the kids who speak are clearly ‘hand-selected,'” the Daily Wire added.
It’s not clear what kind of injuries the man may have sustained or what treatment he was given.
The Daily Wire reportedly contacted Webster Central School District Superintendent Brian Neenan for a response to the incident but did not receive one in time for publication.
Mask mandates and other pandemic-related requirements have increasingly seen pushback in recent months as Americans tire of them.
But several states, most governed by Republicans, implemented policies months ago barring mask mandates and other measures in public schools, most recently in Virginia.
The state’s Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order banning schools for mandating masks and allowing parents to decide was constitutional.
Following the ruling, Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares called it “a win for Virginia families.”
“Today, the Supreme Court of Virginia rejected a challenge out of the City of Chesapeake to Governor Youngkin’s Executive Order Number 2. The Governor and I are pleased with today’s ruling,” Miyares noted in a statement.
“At the beginning of this pandemic, Governor Northam used his broad emergency powers to close places of worship, private businesses, and schools and impose a statewide mask mandate,” he continued.
“Nearly two years later, we have better risk mitigation strategies and vaccines, and we know much more about the efficacy of requiring children to wear masks all day,” he said.
“We agree with the Court’s decision and will continue to defend the Executive Order. This is a victory for Virginia families,” Miyares added.
