A group of activists from across New York state announced plans for a weeklong demonstration against COVID-19 related mandates.

What You Need To Know

  • A group called "pro-family activists" is planning a weeklong anti-mask mandate demonstration

  • It is made up of elected officials, teachers and business owners

  • This is in response to the Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz's four-phase COVID response plan that includes mask mandates, vaccine mandates, capacity limits and shutdowns

  • Business owners who do not comply with the mandate face fines from the Erie County Department of Health

Teachers, business owners and elected officials came together at The Quarter on 26 Virginia Place in Buffalo to protest the recently-enacted indoor mask mandate in Erie County.

“We’re done,” said Robby Dinero, a business owner. “We are not co-parenting with the government. The same government that said cigarettes were OK back in the day.”

Erie County leaders warned the community of limited capacities at hospitals for new COVID-19 patients during this wave of positive cases. On Tuesday, the county had a record of 899 new cases.

“Even just if 10% of people are masking every time they go out in public, we will see a significant decrease in our hospital census from COVID-19,” said Erie County Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein.

The group of activists, wearing shirts that said ‘No Means No’, announced they will be defying mandates from December 6-10 by protesting and encouraging students to walk out of school.

Brandon Carr, owner of The Quarter, said he is prepared to pay fines associated with noncompliance.