3 schools in Vancouver were closed after Proud Boys tried to enter during the mask protest
Vancouver Public Schools officials confirmed Friday that Skyview High School, Alki Middle School and Chinook Elementary were locked after members of the far-right Proud Boys tried to gain access to the school grounds, according to witnesses.
Pat Nuzzo, the district’s communications director, called the lockdown a “security precaution.”
“This is related to yesterday’s protest against Washington State’s obligation to require staff and students to wear masks or face covers in schools and buses,” Nuzzo wrote to OPB.
Patriot Prayer, a far-right group headed by Southwest Washington-based Joey Gibson, and other far-right activists falsely published online posts falsely claiming that a student at the school who refused to wear a mask would be arrested if he did entered the school grounds.
Parents of other Skyview students joined the anti-mask protest, holding up signs demanding that the student receive a medical mask exemption. Nearby teachers and students held signs with masks.
A video posted online showed a group of people outside of school chanting “USA”. Several people in the crowd wore black and yellow clothing from the Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group best known for their involvement in the January 6 uprising and for inciting violence during protests against anti-fascists.
Protesters yell at cars passing by during an anti-mask demonstration outside Skyview High School on September 3, 2021 in Vancouver, Washington.
Jonathan Levinson / OPB
Kyle Sproul, president of the VPS schools committee, said blocking schools was the right decision to keep students safe.
“Regardless of their attitudes towards masking requirements, I believe that most parents in our community agree that protests on our school premises and the disruption of the school day are not in the best interests of the students,” Sproul told OPB.
The school was closed after members of the Proud Boys attempted to escort the freshman applying for the medical exemption into the building.
According to her mother, Megan Gabriel, this student was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. She requested an exemption from the school’s mask mandate because she said the mask could trigger panic attacks.
Gabriel told OPB she was willing to take her daughter to school early, change classrooms before or after other students, and stay as separate from other students as possible to take into account her daughter’s health. Gabriel said the school would not exempt her daughter from the mandate.
Gabriel’s daughter has only been to school one day since classes resumed this week, she said.
“Yesterday they locked her out of the building and I had no idea,” said Gabriel. “She was locked out of the building for an hour.”
The demonstration itself got snappy at times. School security officials said some of the women protesting used derogatory names to female students.
But Gabriel said she was neither an ant mask nor a vaccination opponent. Her son wears a mask at school, she said, and she wears her mask when she’s inside.
An ongoing anti-mask protest is taking place in North Vancouver at Skyview High School that started small and is now attracting overt white racists who invade school property.
Video recorded by a local friend, not mine. pic.twitter.com/rxXL4TrvgI
– Triss Winters (@TrissWinters) September 3, 2021
Nuzzo said she couldn’t speak to certain students due to confidentiality laws, but said Vancouver Public Schools must follow state health and safety measures, including masking requirements.
“Some students qualify for accommodation with a medical mask or a disability mask,” said Nuzzo. “To provide accommodation, we work through a process with the student’s family to take into account all the necessary information, including the health care provider’s records.”
She did not say why Gabriel’s requested leave of absence was denied. Nuzzo said housing is available for mental health issues and that Vancouver offers a full distance learning option.
One student told OPB that teachers and lecturers at the schools were guarding doors in the building during the lockdown, while security guards spoke to the Proud Boys.
“All learning is disrupted. We have to sit quietly, not make any noise, and we would sit in our classrooms for about an hour and a half, ”said Lucas, a 16-year-old high school student at Skyview. OPB is withholding Lucas’ last name to protect his identity.
He compared the lockdown to target practice in schools. Lucas also said that some students were harassed by the anti-mask protesters outside the school building.
“They’ve gotten pretty wild here lately. It’s kind of crazy, ”said Lucas.
As a counter-demonstration, Lucas and other students handed out masks to the right-wing extremist activists at the school.