‘It’s just gonna hurt people’: Possible NC mask ban raises concerns in Charlotte
With North Carolina Republicans set to negotiate over the details of a Republican-backed bill that currently would ban wearing masks in public for health reasons, Celeste Holcomb and Sean McCaffery are worried.
Holcomb and McCaffery, members of Charlotte Mask Bloc, a nonprofit organization dedicated to distributing free masks, can foresee House Bill 237’s adverse effects on the health and safety of Charlotte residents if it becomes law.
“This will make it so that some people are charged either more harshly or just initially due to wearing a mask,” said Holcomb.
McCaffery says the bill will negatively impact wearing of masks and stigmatize their use.
“It will disproportionately affect marginalized and particularly at-risk populations. The bill itself is horrendous and stigmatizes mask-wearing and makes everybody less safe,” they said.
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The Republican-majority state Senate passed the expanded mask ban bill, ”Unmasking Mobs & Criminals,” last Thursday, partly in response to widespread protests of the Israel-Hamas conflict on college campuses such as those at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The bill’s language suggests the target will be protesters and persons committing crimes who fashion medical masks during demonstrations.
The bill repeals the state’s existing mask ban’s exemptions for “physical health and safety of others,” which were established in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A separate element of the bill will “enhance punishment if the defendant was wearing a mask or other clothing or device to conceal or attempt to conceal the defendant’s identity.”
Another provision of the bill would increase criminal penalties against protesters who block roads.
NC lawmakers want clarity on mask bill
The state House on Wednesday voted to not accept the changes because of the repeal, which moves the bill to lawmakers to negotiate changes, The News & Observer reported.
Rep. Erin Paré, a Wake County Republican, opposed the bill due to the removal of the health exemption and concern that the removal could cause public confusion.
“Any person has every right in the world, and every freedom, to protect themselves with a mask in public if they feel they should,” Paré told The N&O.
The bill could be reworked to allow for wearing masks for health reasons without any criminal penalties, Republican House Speaker Tim Moore said.
But Senate Republicans feel strongly, Senate leader Phil Berger said, “that we do not need to have a situation where folks can use the excuse of, ‘it’s a health reason’ to then hide their identity and go out and commit unlawful acts.”
North Carolina is not alone in restricting public mask use. At least nine other states have had similar bans on ski masks that were being worn to conceal a person’s identity while they committed a crime, according to Forbes. Georgia, Virginia, Florida, West Virginia, and Alabama still allowed exemptions for masks worn for health reasons.
“We’re not going to stop distributing masks. We’re going to keep on wearing masks and keeping each other safe. It’s just gonna hurt people and make things harder,” said McCaffery.
This story was originally published May 24, 2024 at 6:00 AM with the headline "‘It’s just gonna hurt people’: Possible NC mask ban raises concerns in Charlotte."