Woman calls school board members ‘demonic entities’ and says they and police officers will be ‘taken down’ over masks
‘These doctors that sit up here that were sneering at us, looking at us like we’re scumbags,’ Florida mom says
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A woman at a school board meeting in Fort Myers, Florida said the board members were “demonic entities” during a discussion about mask mandates.
A clip of the woman, who only identified herself as “Melissa”, went viral following her tirade earlier this week. The meeting was scheduled to discuss possible mask mandates for the 2021-2022 school year.
Several parents went to the meeting to show their objection to any possible mask mandate. Melissa said she had two daughters in the district’s school system.
“Remember we have authority in Christ Jesus,” she said. “These are demonic entities, and all the school boards of all the United States of America, and all of us Christians will be sticking together to take them out, or the police officers that kick us out for our First Amendment right.”
She added that she has been a registered nurse for 13 years, then claiming that “masks just don’t work”.
The CDC says in guidance last updated on 7 May that a “study of an outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an environment notable for congregate living quarters and close working environments, found that use of face coverings on-board was associated with a 70 per cent reduced risk” of spreading Covid-19.
“These doctors that sit up here that were sneering at us, looking at us like we’re scumbags. They need to go back to f***ing medical school,” Melissa added, prompting school board officials to give her a warning because of her use of profanities.
Her mic was cut off when she again said the school board was populated by “demonic entities”.
Father Brian Biggs claimed that the use of masks would increase child trafficking.
“By putting masks on these kids’ faces, you can’t identify any of them,” he said. “So by the nine of you already voting on this, tells me you guys support sex trafficking.”
Former right-wing media creator Matthew Sheffield tweeted that Melissa’s rant showed “how detached from reality ... many far-right evangelicals have become”.
“People like her used to be shunned, even by conservatives. I know because people like her would crash the mic at Republican events I attended. The one exception was donors. If they were crazy, that was loved. And monetized,” he added.
He wrote that people like Melissa werw the future Marjorie Taylor Greene, referring to the Georgia House Republican.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments