Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is threatening legal action over implementation of any COVID mitigation actions, including masks, social distancing, and directing those with or who have been exposed to the deadly virus to quarantine.
Schmitt, a 46-year old Republican who is also running for the U.S. Senate, “isn’t just threatening health officials, but bullying schools with terrifying social-media scare tactics,” The Daily Beast reports. He is also “launching another campaign asking parents across the state to snitch on schools that still had mask mandates or other COVID-19 protocols.”
The Kansas City Star reports Schmitt “embarked on a sweeping public pressure campaign against health and education leaders that some officials liken to a form of legal terrorism.”
He “sent threatening letters last week to health departments and school districts statewide demanding they drop their COVID-19 mitigation orders,” forcing one local school principal to ask, “So do I go ahead and allow the one kiddo that is quarantined to return to school?”
The response from the county health administrator, citing a ruling by county judge Daniel Green is that “they’re allowed to be in school.”
Schmitt isn’t even trying to hide the use of his current office for his political aspirations, tweeting this on Monday: