KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a lawsuit Tuesday to try and stop the mask mandate enacted in Kansas City, Missouri, by Mayor Quinton Lucas.
Schmitt previously threatened a lawsuit when Lucas announced he would put a mask mandate in place in the city again due to rising cases of the delta variant of COVID-19.
The disagreement sparked a squabble on Twitter between Schmitt and Lucas and drew judgment from Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.
Schmitt said in a release that he filed the suit because the mask mandate is unreasonable.
“Today, I filed suit against Kansas City to stop the imposition of a mask mandate on the people of the Kansas City region," Schmitt said in the release. "This continued unconstitutional and unreasonable government overreach must stop, especially in the face of a widely available vaccine."
Later Tuesday, Lucas responded to Schmitt's suit, saying he understood the attorney general's action but that he believe Kansas City would be victorious in the case.
“This, for us, is not about politics. This is not about power. This is not about control. It is about how can we save lives in Kansas City, in western Missouri and in our region,” Lucas said. “The way we can do that is by listening to health experts. It’s by listening to medical advice. It’s by recognizing that two lawyers battling on Twitter doesn’t get us anywhere, but instead what we need to do is think about the very real challenges we’re facing in Kansas City.”
The lawsuit names Lucas, the Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department, and the Director of the Kansas City, Missouri, Regulated Industries Division Jim Ready.
Earlier Tuesday, a St Louis County Circuit Court Judge issued a temporary restraining order that prevents the mask mandate there from moving forward until further proceedings.
