A Texas parent stripped down to his underwear during a school board meeting on COVID-19 mask mandates to drive home his point that ''we follow certain rules for a very good reason.''
At the Monday school board meeting of the Dripping Springs Independent School District parent James Akers, dressed in a sport coat and pants, did the strip as he took the microphone, ABC affiliate KVUE reported.
"I do not like government or any other entity, just ask my wife, telling me what to do," he said. "But sometimes you've got to push the envelope a little bit and I've just decided I'm not going to just talk about it, but I'm going to walk the walk."
Dripping Springs is a rural town roughly 30 miles west of Austin, Texas, and the district decided it was making masks optional for the new school year to comply with GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's ban on mask mandates.
"At work, they made me wear this jacket. I hate it. They make me wear this shirt and tie. I hate it," Akers said as he began removing them.
"On the way over here, I ran three stop signs and four red lights, almost killed somebody out there, but by God it's my roads too so I have every right to drive as fast as I want to, to make the turn that I want to,'' he said, taking off his shirt.
"I got over here to the school today and the parking lot's full and I decided I was going to park wherever the hell I want to, which in this case happened to be a handicap," he added, removing his pants — getting a round of cheers from the audience, the news outlet reported.
"It's simple protocol, people. We follow certain rules for a very good reason," Akers declared.
A school board member then replied: "Mr Akers, I understand — I believe you're a swimmer, but if you would mind putting your pants back on for comments, that would be appreciated,'' the news outlet reported.
He then put most of the clothing back on and left the podium.
Later speaking to KRON-TV, Akers explained his strip decision began as a joke with his friend.
"There's too many voices out there that I think are digging in for political reasons and absolutely just not thinking about the common sense decisions we make every day to comply with everything," Akers told the station.
"From driving down the road and being safe and courteous to other drivers, to not parking in handicapped spots — all these rules that we're given every day that we follow because they make sense and we know in ourselves that it makes sense for the community."
"It's an easy message," he added.
Numerous school districts in Texas have decided to issue mask mandates for their students and teachers in direct defiance of Abbott's ban on mask mandates.
But on Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked San Antonio's mask mandate for public schools. The court decision affects Bexar County, which includes San Antonio.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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