The rally was organized by Moms for Liberty Livingston County and Guardians of Freedom Michigan.
Howell — A crowd of protesters lined both sides of busy Grand River Road on Sunday to rally against mask and vaccine mandates. Parents, children and other residents, organized by Moms for Liberty Livingston County and Guardians of Freedom Michigan, held up signs reading « Unmask our children » and « Government: protect our freedom, not our health » outside the Livingston County Health Department. Livingston County has not imposed mask or vaccine mandates in schools. The county health department recommends masks to limit the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Protesters also demanded that the county’s General Government and Health and Human Services Committee retract its Sept.7 acceptance of $1.5 million in federal aid for its COVID response through 2022, including testing and contact tracing. « Without the COVID money, we’ll have freedom of choice for our children. We’re not here for forced masks. We’re not here for restricted education. We want our kids in school without restrictions, » said Nicole Cullers, who has three children in county schools. « The pandemic is done, » said Cullers, who described the aid package as a « COVID bribe. » Cullers’ comments come as Michigan’s COVID-19 infection numbers continue to trend upwards, as they have been doing for 10 weeks, with the more infectious delta variant raising concerns about the ongoing wave of infections. More than 20,000 people have died of the virus in the state since the pandemic began, and over 970,000 people have tested positive, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on Friday, the latest numbers to be released.
