Masks Concealed Sweet Civic Unrest

When it comes to our children having to wear masks, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said back in May that “Texans, not government, should decide their best health practices.” And with that, he issued an executive order prohibiting any Texas school from requiring masks of its teachers, parents, staff, students or visitors.

That’s why I was troubled to see so many of our local children inundating Navasota City Hall at the end of October in what was obviously a rebuke of the governor’s anti-mask policy. Literally hundreds of kids converged on City Hall in an apparent protest, many of whom were wearing masks of their own in both partial and full-face coverings.

And to add insult to injury, the masks these kids chose to wear in protest were extremely disrespectful in my opinion. They depicted animals, ghosts and witches, and other ghoulish images designed solely to frighten and intimidate.

Had the Governor been aware of this miniature masking malfeasance, I am certain that he would have deployed the Texas National Guard to protect our city’s borders, build a small wall and squelch the uprising at City Hall. Thankfully, there was strong police presence on display by the Navasota Police Department who made sure these kids didn’t get too unruly. I haven’t seen any reports of arrests made during the City Hall insurrection.

It appears numerous civic groups showed up to the scene and offered candy to the crowd in an effort to squelch the uprising and restore peace once again to the streets of Navasota. Thankfully, by the end of the evening, the crowd had dispersed and calm reigned supreme.

This was obviously a well-coordinated movement of pro-mask protests as evidenced by the coordination of other similar protests staged throughout Grimes County at about that same time. In Anderson and Plantersville, for instance, groups of (presumably) other children donned their masks and converged on the Courthouse and Town Hall, respectively, on that same weekend. I’m sure the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office kept the peace during these pro-mask demonstrations. No arrests nor injuries were reported and candy was again deployed as a distraction for the mini masked mob.

Although there were hundreds of photographs taken of these various event and shared on social media, the very fact that the perpetrators were wearing masks makes the task of identifying them that much harder. Another hindering factor is that there were multiple Spiderman’s, Chucky’s, skeletons and cheetahs to further complicate identification efforts.

Crime Stoppers is offering a blow pop to anyone providing information leading to the arrest and conviction of these masked mayhem makers. Your identity will remain anonymous which may require you to wear a mask to help conceal your identity. Unfortunately, doing so may be in violation of the Governor’s anti-mask policy and, consequently, you may be subject to arrest. But on the bright side, you will have a blow pop and the satisfaction that comes with being a law abiding citizen.

Speaking of which, a friend of mine was arrested for downloading the whole Wikipedia. He told them he could explain everything.

Johnny McNally is Grimes County’s Best Dressed Businessman advocating for Grimes County and writes a bi-weekly column for the Navasota Examiner.