MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Maury County mayor has called on the Tennessee General Assembly to convene a special session to address Governor Bill Lee‘s “continued abuses of power.”
In a proclamation Wednesday, Republican Mayor Andy Ogles urged lawmakers to “defend freedom, liberty and individual rights” against the governor’s executive orders, along with “forced” mask wearing and vaccination.
Ogles asked the General Assembly to address the following:
- Limit the powers of Governor of Tennessee and his abuse of Emergency Powers using unconstitutional executive orders, which infringe on the liberties of the citizens of this state.
- Protect the children of Tennessee from forced mask wearing and respect the individual choices of parents to manage the health and wellbeing of their own children.
- Protect ALL people of Tennessee from forced vaccination for COVID-19 whether by government or businesses both as consumers and employees.
The mayor added that he understands the seriousness of COVID-19, but said the virus is treatable with “sophisticated treatment protocols, therapeutics” and that vaccines are available.
In the proclamation, Mayor Ogles criticized Gov. Lee’s “indecisiveness and half measures” which he said, “have subjugated parents and their children to out of control school boards and superintendents, liberal Mayors and a complicit Commissioner of Education.”
“At a time when truly conservative Governors are aggressively fighting against both local AND federal assaults on our freedoms, Governor Lee is taking the twisting path to appease the Left and their allies,” Mayor Ogles wrote.
Ogles has also asked Tennessee residents to reach out to their legislators and added, “I pray that we will have preserved freedom for generations to come.”
As of Wednesday morning, the Tennessee Department of Health reports there are 36,956 residents of the state actively infected with COVID-19.
Since March 2020, an estimated 12,885 people have died statewide as a result of the virus, according to the health department.
