I was bringing a passenger to the Comfort Inn on Banksville Road in Pittsburgh when we saw the flashing lights of police cars.
As we drew nearer, we could see there were several police cars and then that several Pittsburgh police officers had detained an older white woman. They were all wearing face masks. She wasn’t.
I can only speculate that the latter part of that was the cause of the confrontation. She was clearly indignant, perhaps even belligerent. On at least four occasions while I was watching, she attempted to walk away. Once, I saw the cops assume a formation to block her in. Each other time, a cop would grab her by the arm, each time, more forcefully.
I last saw her being put into the back of a police car, without handcuffs, and I had another order to get to, so I didn’t stay to watch the outcome.
Now, I suppose I am supposed to believe that people who resist wearing face masks are truly convinced of their righteousness, that they truly believe they are asserting constitutional rights.
I don’t believe it. Like that old restaurant on Market Street that advertised “the best breakfast in San Francisco” (and I was reliably assured it most certainly did not), if you really are superlative, you don’t need to assert it. And I think the anger and self-righteousness of those claiming a first amendment right to spread the novel coronavirus, to spread a too-often fatal COVID-19, similarly indicates a lack of certainty on the part of those who are most vociferous in their claims.
That older woman protests too much. And so do a few other people.