UPDATED: One county, parent groups warn 'No masks, no lockdowns, no restrictions'

Updated at 11 a.m. on August 2, 2021

The Brillion News

A coalition of 38 parent advocacy groups, all from Wisconsin, sent a letter on Friday, July 30, to Governor Tony Evers and President Joe Biden saying they will not tolerate mask orders, lockdowns or restrictions on freedom of movement.

The tone of the letter suggests unilateral disobedience of such health orders.

The letter said the groups represent over 20,000 Wisconsin families, and the plans to defy any restrictive orders were prompted by events of the past week, where governments are citing the variant of the COVID-19 virus as cause for reimposing restrictions.

"Your renewed calls for lockdowns, enforced mask mandates, and masking in schools is not rooted in science and is objectively cruel to the most vulnerable in our society, our children," the letter said. "We believe that you are in fact aware of this and continue to play political games with our children, despite our efforts to work with you over the last twelve months. We are here to inform you that this ends today."

The letter said that, effective immediately, the families would not allow

1. Masking their children in schools

2. Using government's private sector counterparts to enforce invasive mask mandates on children in various stores or at community activities

3. Children to be subject to any further local, regional, or national lockdowns or movement restrictions

"Simply put, these are not your children. They are ours and they too, are Americans with rights," the letter said.

The letter said they do not consider government to have a co-parenting role.

Locals chime in

On Monday, August 2, Washington County Executive Joshua Schoemann, two mayors, five village presidents and eight town chairmen issued a statement "strongly opposing any mandates or lockdowns."

The statement praised the Trump Administration for Operation Warp Speed, the initiative to put a COVID-19 vaccine project on the fast track.

"This was a giant success for our nation," the position statement by the Washington County officials said.

It also promised to disobey any new restrictive health orders.

"Ebnforcing any kind of mandates or dictating policy within our school systems, businesses, churches or organizations is not our role in county government, the statement said. :After cionsulting with the Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Washington-Ozaukee Public Health Department, we once again affirm that we will not enforce any such mandates."

The statement referred to the federal government's COVID health edicts as "CDC's continued flip-flopping."