No-More-Masks Protest Saturday In Middletown

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — This Saturday in Middletown there will be a protest by people who say they are fed up with New Jersey's mask mandate.

The protest is organized by Caitlin Cunningham, 32, a Bedminster Twp. resident and leader of the No More Masks New Jersey Facebook group, which she is using to promote Saturday's event.

Monmouth County's local elected officials, Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso and Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger, both Republican, confirmed they will be there; Scharfenberger said he plans to speak.

Cunningham said she invited Republican gubernatorial candidate Phil Rizzo to attend and also invited Erin Pein, the Stafford Twp. school nurse who was suspended from her job last week after she reported to work without wearing a face mask, in protest of the mask mandate.

Pein is confirmed to attend and will also speak, said Cunningham.

Cunningham said she chose Middletown to host the rally as she initially wanted to host the protest in Bodman Park. Last summer Bodman Park was used for several pro-Trump and MAGA rallies. From there, protesters would walk to the driveway entrance of Gov. Phil Murphy's mansion, which is located less than a mile away on Navesink River Road.

Cunningham said she wanted to do the same Saturday, and walk to Murphy's driveway, but was told by Middletown Twp. there will be Little League events in Bodman and that she would have to move the rally to Lincroft Village Green, off Newman Springs Road. Middletown also required her to get a permit, which cost $120, she said.

Cunningham said she is just "an average New Jersey woman who feels like my rights are being trampled on. And I'm sick and tired of being embarrassed in public for the past year for not wearing a mask."

Cunningham said she personally has not worn a mask indoors or outdoors in the past year due to an unnamed health condition, and said she's had businesses call the police on her "multiple times."

"The police always say they cannot enforce an executive order," she said. "Murphy needs to open New Jersey entirely and if people want to continue to wear masks they can. Mask-wearing should be optional."

The CDC has long said that wearing face masks is a "critical step" in reducing the spread of COVID-19, and just on Thursday, the CDC released guidance that fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks indoors or outdoors except under certain circumstances, such as on public transit or planes.

So far, Murphy has not said if New Jersey will follow the CDC's latest guidance.

Scharfenberger and Cunningham both said they want New Jersey to follow states like Tennessee, Florida and Texas, which either never had mask mandates or have since lifted them.

"I look at Florida as the model on how to not overreact to a thing like this," said Assemblyman Scharfenberger. "Protect your people, protect your oldest citizens, while not destroying your state's economy. Everyone I know who went down to Florida says it's a different world down there; there is a lot more emphasis on personal decisions. I think Florida got it right."

U.S. states are a patchwork of various mask laws. For example, in Utah you no longer have to wear masks in stores or restaurants, but they are still required in K-12 schools. Some states, such as Arizona, Tennessee and Florida, never had a statewide mask mandate; mask wearing was only "strongly recommended."

These 14 states all previously had mask mandates, but lifted them: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, Kansas and Utah and Wisconsin.

"I went on several road trips in the past year; I've driven through Tennessee and Florida five times in the past 12 months," said Cunningham. "I've taken my money to other states' economies. But I'm tired of being called 'crazy' here in New Jersey and feeling like I have to leave my state. And now Murphy is saying everybody needs to be vaccinated before we can take our masks off. No. Back off. Whatever happened to my body, my choice?"

Cunningham stressed that she does not want Saturday's rally to be political, although she said is a supporter of Rizzo and she specifically invited him.

"It would be nice to see Jack (Ciattarelli) there," she said, referring to the Republican gubernatorial front-runner. "People scrutinize him because he's seen wearing a mask all the time. But if Phil Rizzo or any other gubernatorial candidate would like to attend, then they are more than welcome. The party is really divided right now. But I put this rally together not because of politics, but because I just want the mask-wearing to end."

Ciattarelli is viewed as the moderate Republican; he is trying to fend off challenges from Rizzo and Hirsch Singh, both more pro-Trump conservatives.

Similarly, DiMaso is in a race to save her political life this spring: She is running in a three-way Republican primary on June 8 against Scharfenberger and Vicky Flynn. DiMaso lost the backing of the Monmouth County Republican party.

DiMaso said she thinks children should not have to be masked in schools. She has previously introduced legislation to fight Rutgers' mandate of the coronavirus vaccine for students.

"Schools have put COVID protections in place. Kids shouldn't have to wear a mask," she said.

"I've talked to school boards in Holmdel and Middletown and parents are all saying this; they feel very passionately about no more masks," agreed Scharfenberger.

Scharfenberger is not vaccinated and said he does not plan to be. DiMaso said she received her two-shot vaccine in January; she is a volunteer EMT.

Jacqueline Tobacco is a Middletown Board of Education member who won her seat on a platform of reopening schools and getting kids back in class. She said she knows about Saturday's rally but will not be attending. She said she did not think her two BOE allies, Frank Capone or Barry Heffernan, are going, either.

She said New Jersey schools have to follow mask mandates from the state.

"I am concerned about children being forced to be masked all day in school, especially the special-needs and the youngest students who need to read facial expressions, and see a teacher's mouth form words," said Tobacco. "I worry about all of our students' mental and physical health. As a board member, unfortunately we have been told it’s an executive order and until that guidance is changed we must adhere."

A Middletown mom, Susan Cerbo, said she plans to attend and is "very excited" for Saturday's rally.

"If you're wearing a mask, why do I have wear one? Why are we giving up all our rights?" she said. "It's been over a year now. It should be a choice to wear the mask the same way it should be a choice to get vaccinated. Not Murphy's choice. Not Biden's choice."

Cunningham said she expects several hundred people to attend on Saturday.

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