A Villager’s stranded son won’t back down in a legal fight over a federal mandate requiring masks on airline flights and contends he is fighting for millions of fellow Americans.
Lucas Wall this week stepped up the court battle he began waging earlier this month after he was not allowed to board a Southwest Airlines flight leaving Orlando International Airport for Fort Lauderdale. Wall is suing President Joe Biden, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Transportation Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security and others.
In his latest legal salvo in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Orlando, Wall acknowledges the fierce debate about masks in the country.
“One might view the Federal Transportation Mask Mandate and masks in general as good or bad public policy. Americans disagree passionately about this. But this case turns on whether Congress has authorized Defendant CDC to adopt a nationwide mask mandate. Congress has not – despite ample opportunity during the 15-month-long pandemic,” Wall said in a court filing on Thursday.
He indicated in a court filing he will not consent to a hearing in front of a magistrate judge “given the national significance” of his case challenging the federal mask mandate. He argues that the policy is “effecting tens of millions of Americans every day – including those fully vaccinated and/or with natural immunity to COVID-19.”
The Washington D.C. resident, who has been fully vaccinated along with his mother, had purchased the ticket to Fort Lauderdale and applied with the airline for an exemption from its mask mandate. In his lawsuit, Wall said he can’t tolerate wearing a face mask, due to an anxiety disorder.
He said he also strongly opposes any mask mandate, as he sees it as a violation of his civil liberties.
The TSA would not allow Wall to board his flight without first putting on a mask.
Wall argued that the mask mandate did not make sense, particularly because he would have been traveling within the state of Florida, which does not have a mask mandate.
Among the upcoming trips for which Wall has already purchased tickets is a flight to Germany to visit his brother and his wife.
