Anti-mask group holds rally at governor’s home
No Mask Nevada hosted a rally in front of Gov. Steve Sisolak’s southwest Las Vegas home on Monday afternoon to protest his mandate on face coverings.
According to a release from the PAC, “over 1,200 people have expressed interest in attending” the 4:30 p.m. rally. Shortly after 4:30, about 50 people had showed up. By 5:15, the group had grown to about 100.
“This governor is trying to destroy the global symbol of American prosperity,” co-founder Ian Bayne said in the release. “The rules make no sense and the mask just serves to deter and destroy tourism in Las Vegas.”
Melissa Blundo, chair of the No Mask Nevada PAC, said at the rally that the group wanted to “hit Sisolak at home like he hit us at home.”
“I firmly believe it’s the governor’s job to protect our rights, not our health, and shouldn’t get to pick and choose which rights to protect,” she said.
The political action committee has organized seven previous demonstrations in the Las Vegas Valley in the past few months, most recently on Aug. 29.
Brian Labus, an assistant professor at UNLV’s School of Public Health and a member of the governor’s medical advisory team, has said surgical masks and cloth masks are effective at reducing the spread of the virus. Wearing masks at all times in public is important because people can spread the deadly virus without showing symptoms, he said.
As of Monday, there have been more than 76,000 cases of COVID-19 in the state since the start of the pandemic and 1,531 deaths.
