Mayor LaToya Cantrell of New Orleans has been shown in numerous photos celebrating Mardi Gras Friday evening.

No problem, right?

Well, just one. The recently reelected Cantrell was repeatedly photographed and videoed celebrating without a mask during an indoor event, ignoring her own COVID 19 mask mandate for indoor public spaces and schools, a rule that she recently reinstated.


 

According to a Fox News story, "one hundred short videos taken at the Mayor’s Mardi Gras Ball at Gallier Hall were posted online before they were deleted. The videos, taken by a 360-degree photo booth, showed Cantrell singing karaoke maskless with two other women, who were also without masks."

In fact, in now deleted videos, no one shown is wearing a Cantrell-mandated face covering. The event, held in the city's historic St. Charles Avenue building, comes after Cantrell reinstated the city’s indoor mask mandate for all indoor public settings, including schools. The Mayor's order is in effect until at least March 1.

New Orleans Celebrates Mardi Gras
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Fox News also quoted a Cantrell spokesperson responding to the pics of the bare-faced city leader:

"The mask guidelines and the vaccination requirement will remain in effect thru Mardi Gras. That has not changed and it will not change. Under the current guidelines, masks may be removed indoors while eating and drinking. While we did not see perfect adoption of the guidelines in every instance over the weekend, we were encouraged overall by the level of masking and vigilance we saw on the parade route and at ball events."

Criticism of the Cantrell hypocrisy came from all quarters over the weekend. One critic, NOLA attorney and mask mandate opponent Laura Rodrigue, was quoted by Fox, "We are furious to see our so-called city leaders violating their own mask mandate all through the carnival season while demanding that ordinary citizens and children remain masked.  The hypocrisy and privilege will no longer be tolerated."

Just last week the Louisiana Supreme Court denied requests for a temporary restraining order and an expedited hearing on a lawsuit challenging both Cantrell's mask and the vaccine mandate, requiring people older than 5 to show proof of vaccination in order to enter most businesses, including restaurants.

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