California teachers union leader under fire for maskless picture at Rams game

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The Five - Monday, February 14

On today’s episode, ‘The Five’ debate when the hypocrisy of mask mandates will end after celebrities weren’t wearing them at the Super Bowl. Plus, the Clinton campaign hacked into Trump Tower servers to link Donald Trump to Russia.

A member of the California Teachers Association Board of Directors is under fire for the union's continued support of school mask mandates despite being pictured at a recent Los Angeles Rams game without a mask.

"This California Teachers Association Board of Directors Member, Jesse Aguilar, isn’t interested in a ‘cautious’ approach for adults, only our kids. This is Jesse Aguilar. He went to NFC championship game with 70k strangers - he is #DoneWithCovid but his Union wants kids masked," the LA Parent Union, a group advocating for an end to California's school COVID-19 restrictions, posted on Twitter Monday.

Masked students wait to be taken to their classrooms at Enrique S. Camarena Elementary School, Wednesday, July 21, 2021, in Chula Vista, California. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File)

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Pictured in the tweet was CTA Board of Directors member Jesse Aguilar, who appeared to be celebrating the Rams NFC Championship win last month. A Facebook profile belonging to Aguilar features the same photo from Jan. 31.

Attached to the LA Parent Union post was a recent statement from the California Teacher's Association, which included CTA President E. Toby Boyd applauding the state's decision to keep COVID-19 restrictions such as masks in place for K-12 students.

Photo of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Magic Johnson  (@MagicJohnson)

"We support the administration's decision to pause and gather more information to make a science-based decision on school masking that responds to this moment in the pandemic and helps the state transition with an eye on equity," the statement reads.

The picture of Aguilar comes from the same game that saw California Gov. Gavin Newsom generate controversy for his own maskless photograph, a move he defended despite a policy in place that required all spectators to wear masks.

"I was very judicious yesterday, very judicious, and you’ll see the photo that I did take where Magic was kind enough, generous enough, to ask me for a photograph, and in my left hand’s a mask and I took a photo," Newsom said of the photo he took with NBA legend Magic Johnson. "The rest of the time I wore it as we all should — not when I had a glass of water or anything, and I encourage everybody else to do so."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

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Aguilar took a similar line of defense to his maskless picture in a Facebook post Monday, claiming that he only took off his mask to snap the photo.

"This person wants to know where my mask was. It was in my pocket. I took it off for the picture. There was nobody in front of me," Aguilar said in the post. "I’m glad to wear my mask in a pandemic. It’s not hard and it shows I care about the people around me. I was glad SoFi required proof of vaccination. Getting vaccinated is the sane thing to do in a pandemic. I’m glad sane people behave in a sane manner in an insane time. Where’s your mask?"