Oregon Sen. Dallas Heard ripped off his mask during the opening hours of the Legislature’s third special session this year, protesting Democratic leaders requiring face coverings and closing the Capitol to the public as a coronavirus precaution.
Calling the daylong meeting an “illegitimate session,” the Republican lawmaker from Roseburg said he would have worn the mask if asked, “but you commanded it, and therefore I declare my right to protest against your false authority.”
Heard represents Roseburg, the seat of Douglas County, where two major outbreaks recently occurred after a person went to work despite feeling ill. County officials said the person later tested positive for COVID-19 and, within two weeks, one of two related outbreaks killed at least seven people -- nearly 20% of the county’s total coronavirus fatalities since the pandemic began.
The county’s second outbreak forced more than 300 people into quarantine.
Heard argued that state lawmakers and Gov. Kate Brown’s decision to close the Capitol to the public and to require masks was an “intimidation of the people and children of God.”
“This is His kingdom, not ours,” Heard said during the morning session. “The days of your unchecked assault against our freedoms and His children is over. You have oppressed the free peoples of Oregon.”