Alternative medicine conference packs Charlotte hotel despite mass gatherings ban
More than 250 attendees of an alternative medicine conference packed a Charlotte hotel last weekend despite state coronavirus restrictions on indoor gatherings.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police were aware of the Advanced Medicine Conference Saturday and Sunday at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Charlotte on South Tryon Street but apparently issued no citations.
A hotel representative contacted CMPD on Saturday for guidance concerning the restrictions Gov. Roy Cooper imposed, police spokesman Rob Tufano said Tuesday.
“The CMPD had conversations for the purposes of education, and the hotel advised they would take the appropriate measures to ensure they aligned with the governor’s order,” Tufano said.
Tufano didn’t say whether police officers were at the event, but a Facebook photograph appears to show a masked officer present.
“We were in constant touch with this professional organization about changing COVID guidelines leading up to their arrival, yet they still chose to have their group meeting and agreed to the terms about (the) number of people allowed in each room,” Embassy Suites general manager Kevin Plucker said in a statement Tuesday night.
“On Saturday, when it became clear their attendees were not respecting social distancing requirements, we called CMPD to help us enforce it, which they did.”
Event organizer Kyle Michaud said hotel managers told organizers the day before the event that they would be limited to a gathering of only 10 people, in line with Cooper’s order. Attorneys representing the conference contacted Hilton’s corporate office and were able to hold the convention without restrictions, he said.
“As an organization, we just don’t believe the governor has the ability to tell us what to do,” Michaud added. Police officers were present but didn’t write citations, he said.
Cooper’s modified Phase Two restrictions, which took effect Friday evening, continue to prohibit indoor gatherings of more than 10 people. It doesn’t apply to “the exercise of First Amendment rights,” according to state guidance on the restrictions.
A growing number of events have been held in defiance of the restrictions.
More than 4,000 race fans packed a rural speedway in Alamance County on Saturday. A Lincoln County restaurant owner was cited last week for reopening before the Phase Two restrictions went into effect.
Nobody attending the weekend conference wore a mask, Michaud said. State officials strongly urge wearing masks in public but don’t require it.
“We are making a statement here,” Dr. Rashid Buttar, a Mooresville osteopathic physician who led the conference, told attendees according to a video posted on Facebook Saturday. Buttar is medical director of the Center for Advanced Medicine and Clinical Research in Mooresville, his website says.
Buttar argued that coronavirus particles are too small for masks to trap. Masks contribute to hypoxia, in which too little oxygen reaches body cells and tissues, he said, because they restrict airflow and trap potentially toxic carbon dioxide that the wearer exhales.
“Wearing a mask to keep this virus out is like building a split rail fence to keep mice out,” Buttar says in the video. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 5:04 PM.