Oakdale, CA Students Protest Gavin Newsom’s Mask Mandate, Some Sequestered in Gym

Hundreds of high school students in Oakdale, California, staged a protest in opposition of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)’s mask mandate last week. Some students were sequestered inside a gym at one of the schools, according to footage that was posted to social media.

A video circulating on social media last week showed California high school students in a gym not wearing masks.

“Oakdale CA students throughout the district are refusing to wear masks. High schoolers have been sent to the gym and filled it with more unmasked students on their way,” read one tweet from an account that shared the video.

“These kids are following the governor’s example and we are here to legally support their rights,” the tweet added.

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Another post claimed the maskless students were “barricaded” inside the gym, and that staff turned down the heat in an attempt to “freeze them out.”

“Getting reports that after hundreds protested against school mask mandates yesterday, today, @OakdaleJUSD barricaded any student not properly wearing a mask in the gym and refused to turn on the heat,” read a post by a Twitter account titled, Reopen California Schools.

“Police were called for a wellness check and police turned on the heat,” the tweet claimed. Police, however, said the temperatures inside the gym were not low, and that a school officer had responded to the situation, deeming it not a police matter, according to a report by Daily Mail.

A follow-up tweet said that “staff attempted to barricade the maskless high schoolers in the gym by putting tables in front of the exits. A staff member also was caught turning down the thermostat to ‘freeze them out.'”

“Here is one of the photos taken by a student,” Reopen California Schools added in its tweet, which included a purported image of the incident.

The photo showed folding tables blocking the door from the inside with staff members on the outside, along with a caption that read, “Locking us in.”

The Oakdale Police Department confirmed the protests, revealing in a statement that students had protested the mask mandate in schools throughout the area.

“You may be hearing reports of protests at local schools today. We would like to provide accurate information,” the statement read. “Today there are a few schools throughout town where protests have taken place related to the COVID-19 mask mandate.”

“These gatherings have been small in nature and have been peaceful,” the police department added.

A follow-up video shows the maskless students marching down a street — reportedly on their way to the school district’s headquarters — chanting, “Let’s go, Oakdale.”

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Oakdale Joint Unified Superintendent Dave Kline told the Modesto Bee that 375 students in the district did not wear masks on Wednesday, and that 344 refused on Thursday.

Oakdale High School freshman Nolan Harris told CBS 13 students were protesting the hypocrisy of Gov. Newsom, who was seen posing maskless alongside basketball star Magic Johnson at last weekend’s NFC Championship game, in defiance of a local mask mandate.

“If they don’t follow by their own rules that they’re trying to force upon me, why should I follow them,” Harris said.