Eleven people in Utah have been charged with disorderly conduct and disrupting a public meeting after they allegedly shut down a school board meeting with a protest over a mask mandate for students.
According to The Hill, the incident occurred in May when protesters took over during the public comment portion of the Granite School District’s board meeting.
It began when a local woman voiced her disapproval of the district’s rule mandating students to wear masks in school to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Other audience members started to cheer the woman on and chanted “No more masks! No more masks!” repeatedly, drowning out other speakers and forcing the meeting to end abruptly.
11 people now face misdemeanor charges as a result and could potentially face up to a year in jail in addition to fines.
Ben Horsley, a spokesman for the Granite School District in Salt Lake City, said the protesters’ interruption effectively prevented the school board from conducting its business, and these are the repercussions of their behavior.
See the commotion at the 44:09 mark in the clip below:
