Local Politics

NC Republican group sues, claims First Amendment rights violated after denied entry to board meeting without mask

A local leader in the New Hanover County Republican Party is suing both the county's board of education and the sheriff's office for being denied entry to a school board meeting while not wearing a mask on Oct. 5.

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WECT News
WILMINGTON, N.C. — A conservative local leader with the New Hanover County Republican Liberty Caucus is suing both the county's board of education and the sheriff's office for being denied entry to a school board meeting while not wearing a mask on Oct. 5.
David Perry, chairman of the New Hanover County Republican Liberty Caucus, wrote in a blogpost that being denied entry to the meeting was a violation of his First Amendment Rights and the North Carolina Open Meetings Law.
WECT News reports that the conservative group, who was protesting the mask mandate, tried to storm the building where the school board was holding its meeting. Law enforcement officials did not let the group in unless they were wearing a mask.
One man successfully stormed the building, WECT reported, but was escorted out because he refused to put on a mask.
"Even though that the plaintiff, and thousands of other New Hanover County residents feel that mask mandates are an unconstitutional infringement on our personal liberty, this case is not about that ... This case is simply about the fact that citizens who hold this viewpoint and adamantly refuse to comply with mask mandates should not lose their fundamental right to equally assemble and petition," according to a petition filed by the Caucus.

Perry also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, and if approved by a judge, it would temporarily allow people without masks in the school board meetings.

The blogpost from the conservative group said that Perry would be representing himself because he did not have the funds to hire an attorney.

According to state law, school boards across North Carolina are requiring to hold monthly meetings discussing the district's mask mandate.

The New Hanover County School board voted on Oct. 5 to continued requiring masks in the district.

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