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SF Mayor London Breed Defends Partying With Tony! Toni! Toné! During Mask Mandates

SF Mayor London Breed Defends Partying With Tony! Toni! Toné! During Mask Mandates

Breed

SF Mayor London Breed Defends Partying With Tony! Toni! Toné! During Mask Mandates Photo: In this photo taken Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, San Francisco Mayor London Breed smiles while speaking at the annual Women In Construction Expo in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)/Photo: D'wayne Wiggins, from left, Raphael Saadiq and Amar Khalil of the R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné! attend the 26th Annual Heroes and Legends Awards held at The Beverly Hills Hotel on Sept. 27, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by John Salangsang/Invision/AP)

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is being accused of hypocrisy for partying maskless, despite the city’s indoor mask mandate she helped implement.

After her actions were captured in a video that went viral, Breed defended herself by explaining she “was feeling the spirit” and doesn’t need “the fun police.”

Breed was with a group of friends and was seen dancing to the sounds of the veteran R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné! They were performing at The Black Cat, a famous San Francisco nightclub in an impromptu late-night performance by two of the original three members of the popular rhythm and blues group.

“Like, we don’t need the fun police to come in and try and micromanage and tell us what we should or shouldn’t be doing,” Breed said when asked by reporters about the video footage, The Post Millennial reported.

She said that she “got up and started dancing because I was feeling the spirit. And I wasn’t thinking about a mask. I was thinking about having a good time.”

Breed danced maskless with friends and was pictured sitting with Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza. She also posed for photos with the musicians, Yahoo reported.

Instituted by Breed herself, San Francisco’s mask mandate requires that “everyone wear a well-fitted mask in indoor public buildings even if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, except while actively eating or drinking.”

However, she seems to be saying the occasion warranted violating mask protocols.

“There was something that was really monumental that occurred,” she said. “And that is Tony, Toni, Tone, the original members, the brothers… who have not performed in public … over 20 years, they are just really some of the most incredible artists in the history of this country and the Bay Area in particular. The fact that that is getting lost here is very unfortunate.”

“Everyone who came in there was vaccinated,” Breed added. “So the fact that we have turned this into a story about being maskless, no, I’m not gonna sip and put my mask on sip and put my mask on sip and put my mask on, eat put my mask on. While I’m eating, and I’m drinking, I’m gonna keep my mask off … And again: all vaccinated.”

Many Twitter users were taken aback by Breed’s excuses for being maskless. Steve @Bg_Tie tweeted, “Forget the Covid stuff. Did she really say it was a ‘monumental’ event that required different rules because of Tony Toni Tone? The Revival was good, but all time greats? There’s a reason they haven’t performed in over two decades.”

Sociologist and writer Zeynep Tufekci tweeted, “The maskless partying became news because a reporter was there. Yes there is a mask mandate in SF. The issue isn’t what I think is fine. It’s that rules work if they’re workable and seen as fair.”

Tufekci added that the anti-mask crowd is making the Breed party video go viral. “This has been going crazy viral for days now, especially among people/groups opposed to masking and/or mandates. If today is the first you’ve seen it, think about this moment again when you wonder why things are difficult.”

What Breed did was normal, tweeted Justin Jimenez @contraforte79. “People are human. We may be in this for years, so I can’t criticize too much. SF has one of the lowest rates in the country and v high vax rate. Bars are open and people are filling them, they’re consenting adults and all vax’d. But the finger waggers are out in full force.”

Breed encouraged others to join her. “Go out and enjoy yourself. Make sure you are vaccinated because of the requirements. But don’t feel as though you have to be micromanaged about mask-wearing. Like, we don’t need the fun police to come in and try and micromanage and tell us what we should or shouldn’t be doing. We know what we need to do to protect ourselves.”

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This isn’t the first time Breed has been criticized for breaking covid rules. In November 2020 when California was under a state of emergency and there was a ban on large gatherings, Breed was seen at a birthday party with many other guests at a high-end restaurant.