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Who is Justin Kanew? Tennessee man goes viral for defending mask mandate at daughter's school

'Avoiding masks is not in the Bible but taking care of others is,' Kanew said in the emotional s

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE: The father of a five-year-old girl has gone viral for his powerful speech defending mask mandates at his daughter’s school. Justin Kanew, the founder of The Tennessee Holler, attended the Williamson County Tennessee school board meeting, and in his epic speech, insisted there was no "biblical justification" to support the no mask policy.

The meeting was held a week after hundreds of anti-masker parents protested when a medical professional spoke in support of face masks; a demonstrator even screamed at them: “We know who you are. You can leave freely, but we will find you.” After that, on the August 16 meeting, Kanew slammed those protesters, saying, “I'm a dad of a new kindergartener and her first day was right after the chaos last week. She went to school and was one of just a few kids in her class wearing a mask which made her ask me why she had to. My answer was because we want to take care of other people. She's five years old, but she understood that concept, and it's disappointing that more adults around here can't seem to grasp it.”

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Kanew went on to say, “I asked a pastor friend of mine and he was very clear, there's no actual biblical justification for using the Bible to get out of a mask mandate passed by a majority of this elected board, but thousands are doing it anyway, calling it a 'religious exemption,' which is frankly just sad,” before adding, “Avoiding masks is not in the Bible but taking care of others is.”

Kanew also referred to an executive order signed by Republican Governor Bill Lee that nullified local mask mandates and allowed parents to not choose face coverings for their kids. He stated, “[It's] government overreach undercutting a local decision. If you only like democracy when it goes your way, you don't like democracy.”

The video of Kanew’s speech was shared on Twitter by The Tennessee Holler, and which has garnered over a million views. A user commented, “Have you ever noticed that people who support masks & vaccines are always so calm and measured when speaking to make their point; but the anti-vaxxers & anti-maskers act like loud, screaming banshees? Thank you sir for caring for your daughter & others.” The second one said, “I wear a mask even though I have been vaccinated to protect you.  I work in an environment that is teaming with COVID19.  If you see me wearing a mask, you might want to consider putting your mask on too because I never know when I might have COVID19.”

A person wrote, “All of this is incredible.” Another one noted, “Very much. In addition to everything else, knowing that your children might be singled out and picked on for wearing a mask to keep them safe. It’s unbelievable. People are dying all over the world with no access to vaccine, & people here are arguing over wearing a mask.”

“Beautifully stated and so true. I lived in WC for 9 years and worked for WCS central office. For parents who claim to be so committed to traditional values, they are raising some very entitled uncaring and self-centered kids. Not all, of course, but too many,” a tweet read.