Angry protests erupted in Franklin, Tennessee, after a school district reinstated a mask mandate for elementary students, with some people yelling at and heckling those wearing masks in the parking lot at a meeting on the measure.
The Williamson County Board of Education on Tuesday night during a special session approved the mandate, which will begin Thursday and run until at least Sept. 12, according to the district. People opposed to the mandate gathered outside the meeting, chanting, “We will not comply.”
In one video, a man screamed at an individual wearing a mask as they walked to their car, saying, “We know who you are.” The same man later said, “You’ll never be allowed in public again.”
“You can leave freely, but we will find you,” another man said.
Carol Birdsong, executive director of communications for the district, said in a statement Wednesday that while parents are passionate about their children’s education, “there’s no excuse for incivility.”
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