GOP state lawmaker says she was kicked out of Gettysburg for refusing to wear mask

An Ohio state representative claimed that that she was asked to leave the Gettysburg Visitor Center and Museum in Pennsylvania after refusing to wear a mask amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In a video shared to Facebook on Thursday, Rep. Candice Keller (R) read the text of former President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in front of the Soldier’s National Monument in Gettysburg.

“My husband and I came here yesterday to enjoy the weekend of the Fourth of July, and there is an atmosphere here of, I don’t know what to call it,” Keller continued in the video.

“We were asked to leave the Gettysburg Welcome Center because we refused to wear a face mask,” Keller continued. “This is not the law in Pennsylvania, nor yet in Ohio where I’m from, and it is an unconstitutional idea that our leaders have come up with.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) on Wednesday announced that masks must be work in the state “whenever anyone leaves home.” Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther signed an executive order that went into effect on Friday making wearing a mask mandatory in public in restaurants, barber shops and more. Other Ohio cities have done the same.

Keller added that she and her husband “chose not to bicker or cause a problem” with the historical site’s administrators. They refunded their tickets, but the couple was able to walk to the soldier’s monument.

“We thought we could honor the men who gave it all by coming to see them in person,” Keller said. “We are losing our rights in this country, and until you stand up to those who diminish your freedoms and your liberties, it’s going to continue to happen.”

She added that she would not wear a face mask if she is not sick.

The Gettysburg Foundation, the organization that administers the historic park, has advised visitors entering the museum and visitor center to wear a face covering.

Keller previously refused to have her temperature taken at the Ohio statehouse, the Columbus Dispatch reported. Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R) said in a May statement that staff, visitors and lawmakers have been asked to have their temperatures taken before entering their offices amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Hill has reached out to the Gettysburg Foundation for comment.