‘We are marking the end of the pandemic.’ Broward anti-mask protest draws about 100
Nearly 100 Floridians marched down the streets of Fort Lauderdale waving “Trump 2020” flags and demanding Gov. Ron DeSantis put an end to the State of Emergency caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“We are absolutely done with these ridiculous mask policies,” march organizer Chris Nelson said. “We have decided on our own that masks are not the way to fight this ....”
Not wearing masks, the protesters chanted “we will not comply,” “take off the mask” and “no more masks.” The protesters ranged from young adults to the elderly.
The march started at 11 a.m. in front the Elbo Room, 241 S Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. From there marchers walked a few blocks north before using Seabreeze Blvd. to walk back. Two other marches took place in Naples and DeLand.
“Today, we are marking the end of the pandemic, if you want to call it that,” Nelson said. “We are absolutely over this. Over the last five months regular, ordinary people have been subjected to the worst government overreach and constitutional violations in all of American history.”
The state’s daily statistics on the coronavirus offer a contrasting picture.
As of Saturday, Florida had confirmed 6,362 additional cases of COVID-19, pushing the state’s known total to 569,637. An additional 204 Florida resident deaths were also announced, bring the statewide resident death toll to 9,345.
Miami-Dade County alone has 144,407 confirmed cases and 2,407 deaths while Broward County has seen 66,011 cases and 940 deaths.
According to a press release, the marchers believe that “the actual number of deaths and ICU admissions no longer classify COVID-19 as a pandemic.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health still consider the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
The group also wants to see mask policies around the state done away with.
“We are not saying COVID-19 is not real, but what we are saying today is that it is time to get on with our lives,” Nelson said.
