Scuffle breaks out at tense school board meeting on masks

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A scuffle broke out at a Minnesota school board meeting after a disagreement over masks.

Two men became embroiled in a physical altercation as tensions boiled over at the Eastern Carver County School Board meeting, say officials.

A string of parents wanted to speak at the meeting after the school district mandated masks for all students beginning 29 September.

The majority of those who spoke at the meeting objected to the district mandate, with some speakers demanding the right to make the mask decision for their children.

“Stop the madness, listen to us parents who have every right to parent our kids, you do not,” said the mother of two district students.

“Be on the right side of history, stop the mask mandates and allow parents to choose what’s best for our kids,” said a father of two students.

The scuffle broke out when one man, who was wearing a mask, took the microphone and said that his own Facebook poll showed 70 per cent support for masking.

He was then confronted by another man, and the pair had to be separated.

The mask-wearing man was then confronted by the man’s wife, who accused him of taking a photo of her husband.

When the mask-wearer’s camera was grabbed, the two men again began pushing and shoving and had to be pulled apart.

“Again, I say civility,” said Board Chairman Dr Jeffrey Ross, who branded the behaviour as “unacceptable.”

“For all those who are watching, for all those who are here, we are one community. Let’s talk, let’s have that conversation, but let’s not resort to violence and let it get to that level.”

Minnesota has seen more than 706,000 cases of Covid-19, with 8,212 deaths during the pandemic.