Anti-Mask Protest Canceled Ahead Of Central Bucks Special Meeting

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Proud American Patriots Network has called off its plans to stage a long protest Wednesday ahead of a Central Bucks School District special meeting on masks after some claimed online they were a right-wing militia group.

Flyers for the group’s “No More Mask Mandates” protest circulated around social media over the weekend, as first reported by Chris Ullery of the Bucks County Courier Times. The flyer showed the group was planning to protest from 12-6:45 p.m. Wednesday outside the district’s administrative offices at 16 Welden Drive in Doylestown.

The Central Bucks School District board of education is set to meet there Wednesday night to consider changing its mask-optional policy for the upcoming school year after the Bucks County Health Department issued new guidance urging schools to require face coverings inside.

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The online flyers set off a flurry of posts, including a short video made by the CBSD Families Against Extremism Facebook group that purported to show the Proud American Patriots Network’s ties to militia groups, including the Three Percenters and VDARE.com.

The Three Percenters militia has been linked to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and is considered a terrorist entity by Canada, while VDARE.com is an “anti-immigration hate website,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In a Facebook post early Monday morning, the Proud American Patriots Network tried to distance itself from militia groups and alt-right organizations with a full-throated defense of its mission and beliefs.

“Recently it has been stated that we are a militia, an alt-right wing racist organization. We can state without a doubt we are not,” the post reads. “We have members who come from all backgrounds, multiple cultures, diversities, and religions. We have routinely condemned the breach of the (Capitol) building and believe wholeheartedly in a fair election process. We are for congressional term limits, freedom of religion, and the 2nd amendment.”

According to the post, the group and its president, TJ Kosin, were targeted by an “obsessive attack” after posting the flyer, leading them to call off the planned protest.

“We as an organization decided to cancel the event as videos were circulating sparking mass hysteria and we could not, in good conscious, have this event knowing that the other side has already attacked a parent,” the post said, alluding to an incident involving New Britain Township Supervisor Cynthia Jones.

Jones was cited for harassment after striking a parent on the head with a “Masks Save Lives” sign during a July 27 protest.

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Though the Proud American Patriots Network denounced the Three Percenters militia movement in its Facebook post Monday, its website had a section for the militia’s merchandise as recently as this weekend, the Bucks County Courier Times reports.

A message that now appears on the group’s website says the “Proud American Patriots Network renounces anything to do with the Three Percenter movement.”

Joshua Hogan, founder of the ReOpen Bucks group, said the accusation that there would be a “militia/paramilitary” presence ahead of the board’s meeting was “completely absurd on its face.”

Hogan said the ReOpen Bucks group talked about hosting “a picnic-style family celebration with some food and music” in an attempt to “mend fences and diffuse tension” before the meeting.

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Kosin, who is a Central Bucks parent, saw those discussions and “promoted an outgrowth of the idea” on the Proud American Patriots Network page with a “vague flyer,” which some have twisted for political purposes, Hogan said.

Hogan and other ReOpen Bucks leaders are calling for “civility and peacefulness from all community members” ahead of the board’s meeting.

“To avoid any potential for confusion, we will not host any event on or near CBSD property on (Aug.) 25th,” Hogan said in an open letter. “Instead, we will do as we’ve done for multiple prior meetings: we’ll come early with smiles on our faces, and we encourage everyone in the community to join us and participate in the conversation.”

Some opponents of the Proud American Patriots Network’s planned protest also raised concerns that its members would try to dominate the public-comment period at the Central Bucks board’s special meeting. The board initially planned to hear from the first 30 people who signed up to comment at the meeting, but now they are set to hear from 15 people on each side of the masking debate.

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The Proud American Patriots Network claimed credit for instigating that change, saying the organization sent emails to the school board asking that both sides be allowed to speak equally.

“We believe that this will ensure all sides are heard from and (the) board can make an informed decision,” the group said on Facebook. “This is how a democracy works.”

The board will also hear public comment on masks at its Aug. 31 meeting and is accepting online comments.