150 gather at Connecticut Capitol to protest mask and social distancing mandates

More than three months after Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont enacted a statewide mask mandate, about 150 people gathered in front of the Capitol Building in protest of mandatory masking, social distancing, contact tracing and other public health responses to the coronavirus pandemic.

True to their cause, the attendees did not wear masks or practice social distancing at Sunday afternoon’s rally.

Standing at the top of the Capitol steps, a handful of speakers railed against Connecticut’s public health measures, which have been put in place in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19. Connecticut has so far seen nearly 50,000 coronavirus cases and more than 4,400 coronavirus-related deaths, according to state data updated Friday.

The rally’s main target was the mask mandate, which requires residents to wear face coverings when they can’t or aren’t social distancing.

One speaker, chiropractor and nutrition consultant Matt Cucolo, asked the crowd to think about mask-wearing scientifically -- while also arguing that masks cannot stop or slow the spread of coronavirus, a stance that has been disproven in scientific literature.

“Asking a mask to stop a virus is asking a chainlink fence to stop a mosquito,” Cucolo said. “That’s a fact. People don’t like it but that’s a fact.”

He added that people disagree or argue with him because, in his view, they can’t or won’t acknowledge the reality.

“People like to be right. They don’t want the truth,” he said.

Cucolo’s assertions are in direct conflict with plentiful scientific evidence that shows that mask-wearing does slow the spread of COVID-19. For instance, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in mid-July that a recent study had shown two COVID-19-positive hair stylists did not pass on the virus to any of their clients, despite interacting at close-range. The stylists both wore masks while interacting with clients.

“The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that cloth face coverings provide source control – that is, they help prevent the person wearing the mask from spreading COVID-19 to others,” the CDC wrote.

Other studies have shown that states saw a decline in COVID-19 growth rates after enacting mask mandates, and that countries with widespread mask usage have lower COVID-19 death rates.

Cucolo used dystopian language to describe mandated mask-wearing, calling it “brainwashing” and “group-think.”

Another speaker, Rev. Ernestine Holloway, a Black woman and a candidate for the state House of Representatives, took it further. She likened mask-wearing to slavery.

“The mask is submission,” she said. “See, for slavery they did that because they didn’t want you to talk ... I’m African-American and I know what the mask means.”

But the rallygoers and the event’s speakers focused on more than just masks -- and at times the rally veered entirely away from coronavirus-related restrictions. Many attendees sported flags and t-shirts emblazoned with “Trump 2020,” and a handful carried signs or wore t-shirts in support of police officers.

The intersecting interests of the rally-goers was made explicit by several of the event’s speakers, including Holloway, who proclaimed support for President Donald Trump, raised cheers for anti-vaxxers and used the Bible as a reference.

Holloway also invoked a year-old racist insult that Trump lobbed at a group of four congresswomen of color, when he told them to “go back” to the countries they came from. Holloway specifically mentioned Rep. Ilhan Omar -- a Somali-American and one of the four women targeted by Trump in his 2019 tirade -- before directing a version of the insult at an unclear target.

“We are built on Christian principles. And if you don’t like our country, get the hell out,” Holloway said. “If you disrespect our flag and our country -- go home. This is God’s country.”

A few speakers later, about an hour and a half into the rally, a sudden rainstorm sent many of the rally-goers scattering back to their cars. But several dozen instead took cover under the Capitol Building’s portico, crowding maskless into the small space to listen to the final speakers.

Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.

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