A dozen Massachusetts State Troopers were fired on April 8 for refusing to comply with the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, despite cases and hospitalizations drastically dropping across the state in recent months.
All of the troopers had applied for exemptions to the mandate, State Police Association of Massachusetts spokesman Chris Keohan told the Boston Herald. The State Police Association of Massachusetts, or SPAM, is the union representing the troopers.
“They didn’t just terminate them,” Keohan told the paper, “they eliminated their livelihood.”
“Governor Baker has proven yet again just how hypocritical he is,” SPAM wrote on Facebook on April 8.
“As part of a Friday night news dump, he has just terminated at least 12 Troopers due to his vaccine mandate. No appeals. No due process. Just a Governor hell-bent on breaking the backs of the State Police who work tirelessly each day to keep the Commonwealth safe.”
The union also noted that Baker has started to adopt a more relaxed approach to COVID-19 as cases and hospitalizations have dropped.
“While he closes COVID testing sites, asked that the State House be reopen[ed] without a mandate and has generally shown that we are in the endemic phase of COVID-19, he is still insisting on firing at least 12 Troopers from an already short-staffed department,“ the statement said. ”The Troopers deserve better. The Commonwealth deserves better. And, Charlie Baker should be ashamed.”
Baker’s office didn’t respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.