Although some states are now pushing their coronavirus lockdown measures to the extreme and demanding all citizens wear masks in public, some law enforcement agencies at the local levels are refusing to enforce those orders, according to ABC News.
One such example is the police department in the town of Marshall, Arkansas. Despite Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) officially signing an order forcing civilians across the state to wear masks, Police Chief Lang Holland has said that his officers will not force anyone to do so, nor will they wear masks themselves.
Chief Holland said that people “have the freedom to choose” whether or not they wear a mask, and that such a move “should not be dictated by the nanny state.”
A similar example, also located in Arkansas, is found in Lonoke County. There, Sheriff John Staley said that while he agrees with Governor Hutchinson’s mask decision, his department will not “be out writing tickets for masks,” primarily because they simply do not have the manpower needed to enforce such an arbitrary rule.
Similar acts of civil rebellion by police forces have occurred in Texas, Montana, and Alabama, among other states. And even those who supported forced mask mandates, such as professor Cam Patterson of the University of Arkansas, admitted that “nobody’s asking for a mask gestapo…We’re just asking for good behavior and support from our local communities.”
The issue of masks has remained at the state level, with President Donald Trump saying that Americans have the right to choose for themselves whether or not they should wear masks, and that the government should not enforce such a rule.