North Carolina Group Starts 'Burn Your Mask Challenge' To Oppose Gov. Cooper's Plan

A group of North Carolina residents has started a "Burn Your Mask Challenge" to show their disapproval for Gov. Roy Cooper's plan to potentially make face mask mandatory.

A Facebook group called Reopen NC is encouraging its members to burn their masks and take videos of it. The group's co-founder, Ashley Smith's video has gone viral among the local community.

“Today I’m going to say loud and clear, ‘I will not comply. I do not consent,'” Smith said, per the local news outlet WWAY. “I can’t think a more poignant way to say we’re going to resist the muzzle than to just light one on fire.”

Smith was driven to come up with the challenge as the governor's office, along with North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), is reportedly considering introducing the mandatory wearing of face mask after North Carolina's present reopening phase ends this June.

"We’re examining the issues surrounding a statewide requirement of face masks and some local governments have put requirements into effect already,” the governor said in a press conference Thursday (June 18). “Regardless of whether it’s a law or store requirement, wearing a face covering when you’re around others slows the spread of the virus."

Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin of Raleigh, North Carolina, has already made face mask-wearing mandatory as of Friday (June 19) 4:00 p.m. in her city, according to Vice. Residents are expected to have masks on if they are going to the supermarket and places of businesses, using public transportation, or walking at sidewalks and parking lots.

A study from Texas A&M University showed that face masks could significantly prevent person-to-person virus spread.

"Wearing a face mask as well as practicing good hand hygiene and social distancing will greatly reduce the chances of anyone contracting the COVID-19 virus," the health experts recommended.

But Smith believes that face masks do not prevent COVID-19 spread, despite the study. To her group, a face mask is a sign of control.

"This is not a sign of your compassion, or how much you care for any other human being," she said. "This is a sign to tell them you're going to comply."

To further push their resolve to oppose face masks, Smith encouraged locals to buy boxes of surgical masks to burn.