KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said he plans to file a lawsuit against Kansas City, Missouri, after Mayor Quinton Lucas said he plans to follow new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC issued guidance Tuesday recommending people wear masks in indoor settings where COVID-19 is surging.
According to CDC data, that includes most of Missouri.
The health agency also recommended everyone in K-12 schools where masks.
Both recommendations come regardless of vaccination status.
Lucas said he will continue to follow CDC guidance, as he's done throughout the pandemic, and reinstate an indoor mask mandate in Kansas City.
Schmitt said Wednesday he will file a lawsuit on behalf of the “great people of Kansas City,” “to protect your freedoms.”
He took similar action against St. Louis city and county, which reinstated its mask mandate earlier this week.
“This mask mandate is about politics and control, not science,” Schmitt wrote in a Tweet. “You are not subjects but citizens of what has been the freest country in the world and I will always fight for you.”
Some argue Schmitt’s lawsuits are motivated by his own political aspirations.
He is running for U.S. Senate to replace retiring Senator Roy Blunt.
Lucas responded shortly after Schmitt's Tweet.
"Dude, the order hasn’t even been filed yet. What are you suing about? Do you want us to just schedule a debate on Fox News so you can get the press? I’m down!" Lucas wrote.
Dude, the order hasn’t even been filed yet. What are you suing about?
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) July 28, 2021
Do you want us to just schedule a debate on Fox News so you can get the press? I’m down! https://t.co/hRtlCCR1vi
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