The head of the Arlington County Republican Committee reportedly posted the personal information of Virginia residents who reported violations of mask mandates, including their names, email addresses and phone numbers, in a Facebook group open to county residents.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Andrew Loposser was removed from the “Arlington Neighbors Helping Each Other Through Covid-19” Facebook group, which boasts more than 11,000 members, after he posted a screenshot of data from the state Department of Health revealing personal contact information for several residents who had reported violations to the agency.
Under the state’s mask mandate, people must wear masks in businesses and any public space, including public transportation. The state Health Department runs an online form for reporting violators.
“Only part of the snitches in Arlington County,” he wrote, according to a screenshot obtained by the Post. “If y’all want to try to destroy businesses via the health department, we will make sure your name, email, phone numbers and addresses are well known to activists who want to peacefully protest you.”
A similar post was also seen for several hours on the Arlington, Va., area of Reddit.com, though it was later deleted as well, according to the newspaper.
The Virginia Republican Party did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill. Loposser responded in a statement to the Post, defending his actions and stating that “Facebook doesn’t really run my life.”
“I believe people who are fomenting hysteria across Virginia and in our community should be criticized for creating an unsafe environment surrounding coronavirus guidelines,” he added in a statement to Arlnow.com. “The ‘Arlington Neighbors’ Facebook group is … being driven by misinformed busybodies who are wreaking havoc on businesses they don’t like. I posted about those busybodies, and the partisan admins block people they don’t agree with.”
“The board and any Nazis who want to support this can pound sand,” he reportedly added in the Facebook group, according to the Post, responding to commenters who criticized his actions.
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A moderator from the group accused Loposser of diminishing the memory of Holocaust victims with his comparison to “Nazis” over the issue of wearing face masks in a statement to Arlnow.com.
“We have removed and blocked the chairman of the Arlington County Republican Committee, Mr. Andrew Loposser, from Arlington Neighbors Helping Each Other Through COVID-19,” Joshua Farrar said, adding: “Comparisons of those who support public health restrictions on local business to Nazis are horrid and inappropriate, and diminish the experiences of Holocaust survivors, and are an affront to the memory of the millions of lives upended and extinguished, murdered, by Hitler and his machinery of extermination.”
As well as serving as the top official for Arlington County’s branch of the GOP, Loposser works as a legislative assistant for state Del. Michael J. Webert (R), the Post noted.