Tennessee doctors are speaking out against threats made against health care workers in Williamson County who have been advocating for a mask requirement in schools. The Tennessee Medical Association released a rare statement related to a viral video taken outside a raucous school board meeting last week.
As sheriff’s deputies watched, anti-mask activists yelled in the faces of doctors who were there to speak in support of a mandate and heading to their cars.
“We know who you are.”
“We will find you.”
“You will never be allowed in public again.”
Williamson County’s sheriff says an investigation has been opened, though it’s unclear what kind of charges are being contemplated.
TMA condemns any threats, real or implied, made against physicians or any health care professionals carrying out their duties in good faith to provide information intended to protect our fellow Tennesseans. The virus is our enemy, not health care workers: https://t.co/fzbtJwzefq pic.twitter.com/oaUztleD7w
— Tennessee Medical Association (@tnmed) August 17, 2021
Whatever happens legally, leaders of the Tennessee Medical Association say they felt the need to condemn the threats, “real or implied.”
More: Read the TMA’s complete statement
TMA president Dr. Ron Kirkland says people would do well to listen more closely to physicians in this moment, though he says debate, like the one inside the meeting Aug. 10, is expected.
“I’m hoping, and this is a personal observation, that this was sort of a one-off situation,” Kirkland says.
The enemy is the COVID virus, Tennessee doctors say, not health care workers.
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