A Republican mayor in Kansas has resigned due to threats she's been receiving over her support of a pandemic mask mandate.
"I understand people are under a lot of pressure from various things that are happening around society like the pandemic, the politics, the economy, so on and so forth, but I also believe that during these times people are acting not as they normally would," Dodge City Mayor Joyce Warshaw said in a letter on Tuesday, per the Dodge City Daily Globe. "I think it's best for me and the city that I love to remove myself from the commission at this time and from the mayorship so that the city can move forward and be the best that it can be because I believe in the city."
In an article earlier this month, Warshaw—who wisely voted in favor of a recent mask mandate—was quoted as saying she and fellow policymakers "just felt like we had to do something" to make sure everyone was on the same page regarding virus containment efforts.
Warshaw, who said she doesn't regret supporting the mandate, was targeted via phone and email with threatening messages from people who recklessly insist on somehow being against the use of masks. Some of the threatening emails in question, according to NBC News, have been handed over to local police.
More than 300,000 people have died during the pandemic in the U.S. alone. The variance of pandemic policies across the country, due in large part to an absence of unity and common sense in the current administration's response, have remained a key hurdle in the final weeks of 2020.
