SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY—Braving a windchill factor of 13 degrees hundreds of parents, some with their children, protested outside the Suffolk County government offices on Long Island on Jan. 26, in an attempt to reverse the state-issued mask mandate at their schools.
The protest was organized by Long Island Loud Majority, a grassroots group founded in September 2020.
“We truly believe that there are more patriots in the country than there are non-patriots, than there are folks radical left, pro-communism, pro-socialism, anti-capitalism, anti-freedom, anti-liberty,” Shawn Farash, one of the group’s founders, told The Epoch Times.
Farash believes the radical left has been in a position to broadcast its agenda “unincumbered” and “unimpeded” for too long.
“We have stepped in and as conservatives said, ′You know what? If we believe there’s more of us, if we are the majority, why must we be the silent majority?'”
On Jan. 24, a judge ruled New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration lacked the constitutional authority to mandate masks, but on Jan. 25 it was reversed on appeal.
“We believe that the courts are going to hold the governor accountable,” said Farash.
Several speakers addressed the crowd, including Suffolk County Legislator Nicholas J. Caracappa.
“I’m not just supporting these people; I’m supporting my own children,” Caracappa told The Epoch Times after his speech. “I’m supporting the right for choices, the right for our freedoms.” he said.
“We can no longer allow those—especially the power of one person with the stroke of a pen—to dictate how we should live our lives,” Caracappa said.
While Long Island Loud Majority organized the event, other organizations were there as well.
Amanda Ascher belongs to East Islip Parents for Choice.
“We’re a group of parents who have been fighting for two years now against these unethical and unconstitutional mandates,” Ascher told The Epoch Times.
Ascher, a mother of three, has spoken at school board meetings and feels her group is making progress.
“There’s a change happening. There’s a turn in the tide. There’s a lot more people who are fed up. There’s a lot more people who are starting to realize that this is not going to go away unless we actually demand it,” she said.
Ascher feels if they don’t achieve success, it may be time to remove her children from the public school system.
Mike Cefalo of Levittown brought his three daughters to the protest.
“The other day when they were told they didn’t have to wear masks it was like Christmas morning,” Cefalo told The Epoch Times. “They were so happy they were able to breath in gym class, see friends’ smiles,” he said.
Cefalo is an FDNY firefighter and feels he was forced to take a vaccination he didn’t want.
“I can actually feel the difference when I go to fires—in my heart, in my lungs—I’m fatigued way more [quickly] than I ever was before I put this poison in my body,” he said.
David Balistreri is a parent of two students in the Harbor Fields school district.
“They were denied education yesterday,” he told The Epoch Times. “I brought my son to school without the mask due to the Supreme Court ruling and they wouldn’t let him attend class.”
The seventh-grader was sent to the office and Balistreri picked him up from school.
“Harbor Fields broke the law yesterday,” he said.
Balistreri said later in the day, after phone calls from several parents, students were allowed to remove their masks.
The first location for the protest was at the Korean War memorial on the grounds of the county office buildings, but after about 40 minutes the protestors moved to the edge of the property on Veterans Memorial Highway.
The crowd chanted, “No more masks! No more masks!” and passing drivers often honked their horns in support.
Caracappa called the event a “movement” and “the will of the people.”
“Look what’s happening here today,” he said. “You can’t stop progress. This is progress.”
