PETERSON'S COURAGE AND LEADERSHIP WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN GOV. MURPHY'S RECISION OF THE MASK MANDATES
TRENTON, N.J. – Assemblyman Erik Peterson led a movement of Assembly Republican members who refused to comply with the Statehouse Covid-19 policy, and combined with fed-up parents, resulted in the end of the controversial school mask mandates.
On Monday, Feb. 7, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that he would be lifting statewide school and child care masking requirements on March 7.
“The governor’s promise to end his mask mandate next month shows that when Republican Assembly members and parents stand together in opposition to his Covid mandates we can force the administration to follow the science and unmask our kids. Had I and my colleagues not stood our ground and forcibly said no to Governor Murphy’s statehouse Covid mandates and shown our solidarity with parents, I am convinced he would not be rescinding his mask mandate but would have instituted a vaccine mandate for our children to attend school,” Peterson (R-Hunterdon) said.
In December, Republican Assembly members. led by Assemblyman Peterson, defied the policy requiring legislators and visitors to show proof of Covid vaccination or a negative test to enter the Statehouse and legislative chambers. Peterson was featured on national news as a result of his defiance of Gov. Murphy's mandates and requirements to show proof of vaccination or negative COVID testing prior to entering the Assembly chambers. "I will always stand up for freedom and our rights," said Peterson, "I will aways fight for what is right irrespective of the consequences."
Peterson stood up to the Democrats and the Murphy mandates at the State House; he refused to show a vaccination card and proof of a COVID test, and, once inside, Peterson refused to comply to the Democrat Assembly leader's intimation tactics subjecting himself to the risk of arrest. As a result, during his appearance in the Laura Ingraham show, The Ingraham Angle on FoxNews, Ingraham said about Peterson: "Courage is hard to come by these days in politics and you showed it."
“Prior to our standoff, medical segregation was alive and well in New Jersey. When parents and elected officials pushed back and Murphy’s approval rankings started to tank, the ‘science’ suddenly revealed that masks don’t stop the spread of Covid,” continued Peterson. “Governor Murphy should drop his political-science-based mask mandate today instead of appeasing his NJEA by waiting until March to unmask our kids. This is true political theater. Stop the nonsense and follow the science.”
