Los Angeles Official: Those Not Wearing Masks Committing ‘Reckless Endangerment’

Surfers carry their boards as cyclists ride past, none wearing a facemask, at Santa Monica
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Los Angeles City Council committee officials are considering enforcement tactics to penalize individuals who are not following both the state and local mask directive, with one city councilman suggesting that they “start to consider it reckless endangerment of others to not wear a mask.”

“I truly can’t fathom the people who are politicizing mask wearing — literally for some people, a choice that will (mean) life and death,” Councilman Paul Koretz said during Friday’s meeting, noting that he supports the issuance of citations for those who fail to abide by the orders.

“It seems like we should start to consider it reckless endangerment of others to not wear a mask,” he said, according to Deadline.

The committee reportedly “directed its staff report back on ways of encouraging — possibly through citations or other enforcement — adherence to requirements that residents wear masks to prevent spread of the coronavirus,” the outlet reported.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) last week signed an order mandating face coverings in public settings, with limited exemptions:

“Science shows that face coverings and masks work,” Newsom said in a statement.”They are critical to keeping those who are around you safe, keeping businesses open, and restarting our economy.”

As Breitbart News reported:

Californians will be required to wear a mask while in line or inside public spaces, at the workplace, and when waiting for or while riding public transportation, the newly-issued state guidelines say. People engaged in hiking, running or bicycling do not need to wear a mask. Children under two-years-old and individuals with medical conditions are also exempt from the order.

Newsom’s statewide directive followed Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s (D) move “requiring all Angelenos to wear face coverings when they leave the house”:

The recent debate over issuing mask citations in Los Angeles comes as mask directives begin to pop up all across the country. Several states — including New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts — are requiring individuals to wear face coverings in certain public settings, while localities in several states are imposing their own mandates, some of which come with penalties of up to $500.

California’s Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes announced last month that he would direct his staff “not to direct any enforcement toward the … mask requirement.”

“We are not the mask police — nor do I intend to be the mask police,” Barnes said. “I think what we have seen repeatedly throughout the community is Orange County residents acting responsibly.”

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