♪ ♪
(amplified heartbeat)
I'm in Johnson County, North Carolina,
marching with anti-mask protestors
to what has become America's new thunderdome,
school board meetings.
North Carolina parents are desperate
to get their kids back into schools.
But with packed ICUs and COVID cases in children
four times what they were last year,
new studies in the CDC are recommending masks
as a way to keep in-person learning.
But packed school board meetings
and new stars of the right are upset,
because putting on a piece of cloth is just too much.
I'm against all mandates. So from there,
I don't... whether it's masks, whether it's vaccinations,
I'm against it all.
Masks will never protect America.
Uh, masks don't work.
My child was suffering after wearing his mask for so long.
-What kind of issues has he had? -He had acne on his face
from, you know, the mask covering
and not letting his skin breathe.
-Has he had COVID? -No.
-But he has had acne. -Yes.
So if you had to choose...
No.
What is wrong with having children wear masks in school?
Well, you are breathing in the toxins
that your body is trying to get rid of.
-How do surgeons do it? -That is a good question.
There's been some new studies that have come out,
both by the CDC and by even Duke University,
talking about masks being helpful,
especially in a school situation.
I challenge anybody to put a mask on
and five minutes later smell that funk
and think it's good for them.
So there's science, and then there's the smell test,
-and you're going with the smell test. -Yes.
What are some of the ways kid suffer
when they have to wear masks?
I think breathing. I've done a little bit of research
about carbon dioxide, that people are saying
is a issue now with the mask.
Wearing a mask helps stop the spread of COVID
-in settings like a school. -But they... they still...
they're outside, like right now,
I mean, this is kind of an example.
There are kids out there playing and stuff.
But we're outside right now.
When you go inside, isn't it beneficial to wear a mask
-if you're close to someone? -Uh-uh.
-No? -I mean, I don't think so.
The science says it is helpful to wear a mask,
so it doesn't spread when you are in close proximity indoors.
-The science? -Yeah.
(laughs): Yeah, well...
I don't think... I mean, 'cause they're....
(sighs) Ooh, I don't know.
I just...
Can y'all edit this? I'm sorry.
♪ ♪
KLEPPER: So, some people are bewildered by science,
both the practice and the word.
But maybe scary images, like full ICUs,
would have an impact.
Wearing a mask-- what's the harm?
Well, for kids the harm is,
they can't gauge emotional awareness of other kids.
They don't see the facial expressions.
You think not being able to see people's lower halves of face
outweighs the danger that COVID might pose
to kids in a community?
Well, the dangers aren't what you think they are.
The ICUs here are full.
Yeah. But how many positive tests
in all of North Carolina have died?
How many are sick?
-The ones in the ICU are pretty sick. -Yeah.
I've been in ICUs three times in the last year and a half
with my wife and have questioned
the nurses and doctors.
You have ICUs full of people suffering from COVID right now.
Do you, now? Is that true?
-Yeah. -Or are they just being the diagnosis on paper?
I've walked through the hospitals.
I videotaped inside the hospitals.
And guess what? It's not full of COVID patients.
Now I'm worried about COVID and security measures
at North Carolina hospitals.
Like so many of these school board battles,
it was never about just one thing
but more of a general airing of grievances.
WOMAN: When we got a governor here
that thinks it's okay to have CRT in the classroom,
they need to focus on educating and not indoctrinating
our children here in North Carolina.
No CRT. That's ridiculous.
We're saving the kids from all that's going on with CRT.
Critical race theory.
And here in North Carolina, they don't need
to learn about racism in school.
No. Where are they gonna learn about racism mostly?
Walking past one of the tobacco fields?
Well, no, not walking past the tobacco fields.
-Oh. -You know, it's not... It's not like that.
KLEPPER: It was hard to sum up the outrage of that afternoon.
There were many thoughtful political statements being made.
But looking around, it was difficult to miss
the real catchphrase of the day.
I don't co-parent with the government.
Well, you don't want to co-parent with the government,
-don't get pregnant in Texas. -There we go.
-Right. -Don't get pregnant anywhere.
Your kids go to private school?
They are enrolled in public school.
Isn't that kind of co-parenting with the government?
No, it isn't. Because you know why?
-Why? -We have a board of education.
We also elect who our officials are.
We get to have a voice.
-Right. So you work with the government. -We do.
-In parenting decisions. Yeah. -Yeah. (chuckles)
They're in public school.
So you kind of co-parent with the government.
In that regard, I guess, yeah.
If you want to say my taxes pay for that, yeah.
But you're giving them back your child tax credit.
So...
I mean...
KLEPPER: This crowd that was ready to fight
for what they believed in
was using the power of democracy
that was bestowed upon all of us
by our founding fathers.
-Did you vote for school board? -No.
-No. -I don't even vote. (chuckles)
-You don't even vote. -No.
You could vote for somebody who reflects your values.
I could vote. You're right.
-Yeah. -But that's a hassle.
I just don't take the time to do it. I'm sorry.
KLEPPER: But at the end of the day, they saw this
as a fight against something much more disturbing
than kids' face coverings.
-It's terrible for them to wear masks, absolutely. -Okay.
It's just absolutely terrible. It's a sign of slavery.
-Wait, what is? -Very basically.
Wearing a mask is a sign of slavery.
I discovered in my research, also,
that satanists stand six feet apart.
They wear masks during their rituals.
-Who does? -Satanists.
-Satanists. Six... -Their rituals.
-That's six... -Six feet apart, wear a mask.
-Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah. -I don't know.
Is it coincidence? I don't know.
-Okay. -Satanism is... Well, we're...
We're at war with satanism.
-How are we doing? -I think we're winning.
-Good. Finally, some good news. -I have no-no fears.
No fears but a healthy belief in satanism
-and its effect on the COVID. -Oh, absolutely.
♪ ♪