Heard of homelessness? It’s not a crime, although Republicans are trying to make it one. And they’re not just targeting the homeless; in cities run by conservatives, giving food to a homeless person could land you in jail.
Going maskless isn’t the same as being homeless. That’s voluntary, and lots of people are doing it. If you live in red state, it’s likely that officials from the governor on down are hostile to mask requirements — in some of those states, they even block cities from requiring them — and many of your neighbors refuse to wear them.
But even in Idaho, one of the reddest states, that goes only so far. And stops at the courthouse door. Because of that, rightwing acquitted domestic terrorist and anti-masker Ammon Bundy (photo) is in jail tonight pending bonding out.
Bundy was arrested “after he refused to wear a mask in court, thus preventing him from entering and making him a no-show” for his trial on trespassing and resisting arrest charges “stemming from an August incident at the Idaho Statehouse,” NBC News reported on Monday, March 15, 2021. Read story here.
And why does Idaho, a state dominated by mask-haters, require masks in courthouses? Because, “For nearly a year now, the Idaho Supreme Court has required masks for entry into any courthouses in the state,” and the court — not the reactionary governor or legislature — makes the rules for courts. Bad on him and all others who defy the courthouse mask rule.
Technically, defying a court-mandated mask rule in a courthouse could get a person sentenced to jail for contempt, but Bundy was taken into custody for failure to appear, a kind of Catch-22 for anyone who refuses to wear a mask in a courthouse, but one he deserves.
By the way, as reported by The Hill (here), Bundy recently has had reservations about some of his “patriot movement” friends, to wit:
“‘It’s like being in a room full of people in here, trying to teach, and no one is listening,’ Bundy said of the right-wing ‘patriot’ groups …. ‘The vast majority seemed to hang on to what seemed like hate, and fear, and almost warmongering, and I don’t want to associate myself with warmongers.'”
Kinda funny, coming from someone like him.