Anti-mask activists derail Hilton Head meeting as delta surges: ‘We’re gonna vote you out’
A man shouted that the Hilton Head Island Town Council was “disgusting.” Someone else muttered, “Nazis.”
“We know who to target,” said one resident, as dozens of anti-mask activists jeered at departing Town Council members. The elected officials had given up on trying to hold a meeting Tuesday and ended early, leaving a room at Town Hall flanked by deputies from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
The council had gathered to discuss Mayor John McCann’s state of emergency declaration, which went into effect Monday amid a surge of local COVID-19 cases.
The state of emergency allowed Town Manager Marc Orlando to require masks in town buildings such as Fire Rescue headquarters. It did not apply to private businesses.
The council, McCann said, had no plans to enact a new, townwide mask ordinance.
But that was of little comfort to the furious activists, who blasted the council with a wave of vitriol and COVID-19 misinformation over the course of two hours Tuesday.
The meeting regularly devolved into chaos, as maskless people mocked the mayor’s pronunciation of “agenda,” chanted “shame,” milled around the room and approached the dais to argue with McCann.
The council chambers, for the evening, became a microcosm of the nation, which remains deeply divided over basic facts about the pandemic.
One woman told the council that SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus, was “computer generated.” She added that COVID-19 variants, like delta, are not real. (This is false.)
Another person held a photo of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top expert on infectious diseases, with the word “FRAUD” written above his head.
Some people shouted down council members.
Who bought you?
We’re gonna vote you out.
Why are you wearing masks?
“I’m just asking for respect,” said Ward 4 representative Tamara Becker.
She was promptly made fun of.
Many of the activists complained about issues unrelated to masks and drifted off topic. One woman talked about Afghanistan and the Taliban’s recent takeover. She also made comments about undocumented immigrants.
Someone else, who said he was a scientist, argued that no one has proven that COVID-19 vaccines are effective, noting recent “breakthrough cases” among a handful of Texas lawmakers. (Severe breakthrough infections are extremely rare.)
“I’m ashamed of every one of you,” the man told council members. “This is a stealing of our rights as American citizens.”
Some of the protesters had more specific complaints or questions: One woman was upset about mask mandates on hot school buses. A man who recently moved to South Carolina from Pennsylvania asked McCann when the state of emergency would end. Another person argued that the Town Council could use the mayor’s declaration to enact a future mask ordinance. (This is accurate, but McCann has repeatedly said that he has no plans to impose new face-covering rules in businesses.)
The majority of the meeting, though, was drowned out by mask opponents focused on a litany of national, or ambiguous, issues.
All this vaccine bologna is a big lie.
This is child abuse.
You are promoting something that is not good for humanity.
McCann, eventually, had enough. He adjourned the meeting early, after the council voted 5-0-1 to support the state of emergency. Ward 3 representative David Ames was absent. Becker, of Ward 4, abstained from the vote, telling the crowd, “I agree with many of you.”
“The point is, you’re not listening to us,” Becker said to a groundswell of boos.
The elected officials had no chance to discuss other agenda items Tuesday, like what to do with $5.2 million in federal COVID-19 recovery funds.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhat’s next?
The Hilton Head Island Town Council has scheduled a virtual meeting for 11 a.m. Thursday to consider the rest of Tuesday’s agenda. The meeting can be watched on the County Channel, the town’s public meetings Facebook page and the town’s website.
This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 1:42 PM.
