Student whose grandmother died of COVID-19 heckled by anti-masks

A Tennessee teenager was heckled and mocked by adults at a school board meeting while discussing his grandmother’s death from COVID-19 to promote the need to wear masks.

Grady Knox told the Rutherford County School Board that the mask warrants would ensure a safer learning experience for students while protecting their family members.

But when the high school student mentioned his grandmother’s death, the crowd turned on him.

‘Around this time last year my grandmother, who was a former teacher in the Rutherford County school system, died of COVID because someone was not wearing a mask,’ a masked Knox told council and passionate, according to images from the audience.

Members of the audience could be heard saying ‘no’, ‘that is not what happened’ and ‘shut up’, while an unmasked woman sitting behind Knox was seen laughing, to roll your eyes and shake your head back and forth.

The interruptions continued to silence the young speaker for 13 seconds until a moderator was heard off camera saying “hey guys, we’re here to act like a pro”.

Knox did not immediately return the Post’s telephone interview request, but told News 4 Nashville the disruption was “utter madness.”

“If they laugh at me for a personal story about my grandmother, it’s just disrespectful, I think. So I was a little shaken up, ”Knox told the local station.

Board member Claire Maxwell said officials did not support the explosion, according to the report.

“All seven of us are wholeheartedly ashamed of what happened and we want to make sure that nothing like this happens again,” Maxwell reportedly said.

Knox told the outlet that he hopes the now-viral incident doesn’t reflect poorly on his suburb of Nashville.

“I hope they can see that there are people like me who want to see the change and look past all the hecklers,” Knox reportedly said.

“As long as I can get my point across, I don’t really think what the crowd thinks of me matters. On the whole, they are not the ones who make the decisions for the school.

Officials failed to reach a consensus at Tuesday’s meeting, but the school board voted on Thursday to implement a temporary one-month mask term, according to NBC News.