'No more masks!': Louisiana school board meeting shuts down as attendees create disorder

Although COVID-19's highly infectious Delta variant continues to surge in the U.S. — especially in red states with lower vaccination rates — many Republicans are vehemently opposed to mask mandates in public schools. And that opposition was very much in evidence this week during a meeting of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, or BESE.

At issue was whether or not protective face masks should be mandated in Louisiana's public schools. The crowd was largely maskless, and according to journalist J.C. Canicosa, tempers flared when BESE security announced that maskless people would be thrown out.

A maskless woman in the crowd angrily declared that she was "sick and tired" of masks being pushed in her state. And a man in the crowd, obviously in agreement with her, led the crowd in a chant of "No more masks, no more masks." And the meeting was adjourned for safety reasons.