Violet Affleck Speaks Against Mask Ban at LA Board Supervisors Meeting

Violet Affleck is taking a stand against Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass’ proposed mask ban.

On Tuesday, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s 18-year-old daughter spoke up at a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting, expressing how harmful the ban could be.

While taking the podium, the teen described herself as a “first-time voter.” The younger Affleck explained that she contracted a “post-viral condition” in 2019. “I’m OK now but I saw firsthand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown that into sharper relief.” she said. The teen then said, “One in 10 infections leads to long COVID, which is a devastating neurological, cardiovascular illness that can take away people’s ability to work, move, see or even think.

“To confront the long COVID crisis,” she added, “I demand mask availability, air filtration and Far-UVC lighting in government facilities, including jails and detention centers, and mask mandates at county medical facilities.” She also asked for a wider availability of free COVID testing and treatment.

“Most importantly, the county must oppose mask bans for any reason,” she continued. “They do not keep us safer, they make vulnerable members of our community less safe and everyone less able to participate in Los Angeles together.”

Following a pro-Palestine protest outside of the Adas Torah synagogue in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles, Mayor Bass announced she was considering a mask ban for protests.

During a news conference held on June 24, Bass declared that she would be in conversation with city attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto to discuss “several things that we need to examine,” such as “permits for protests, the idea of people wearing masks at protests and establishing clear lines of demarcations of what is legal and what is not.”

A mask ban was also proposed in New York by Gov. Kathy Hochul, out of concern over people hiding their identity while committing antisemitic hate crimes. “We will not tolerate individuals using masks to evade responsibility for criminal or threatening behavior,” Hochul said in a news conference in June. “My team is working on a solution. But on a subway, people should not be able to hide behind a mask to commit crimes.”