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Noem Violates Mask Requirement at Dakotadome HS Football Game

Wearing a mask briefly in public Wednesday in Parkston was all Governor Kristi Noem could take. Taking more time off work to watch Platte-Geddes cream Hamlin in the state football contest at the DakotaDome Thursday, Governor Noem violated the mask requirement imposed by the University of South Dakota and the South Dakota High School Activities Association:

Gov. Kristi Noem, unmasked at the SDHSAA football championships, USD DakotaDome, 2020.11.12.
Gov. Kristi Noem, unmasked at the SDHSAA football championships, USD DakotaDome, 2020.11.12; photo retweeted by David Lias, 2020.11.13.
Gov. Kristi Noem, unmasked in DakotaDome; photo submitted by DFP reader.
Gov. Kristi Noem, unmasked in DakotaDome; photo submitted by DFP reader.

Governor Noem was not alone in her disregard for rules and public health; many other attendees followed her bad example:

South Dakota Public Broadcasting, photo of crowd during Canistota/Freeman v Warner game, USD Dakotadome, 2020.11.12.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting, photo of crowd during Canistota/Freeman v Warner game, USD Dakotadome, 2020.11.12.

The University of South Dakota requires face coverings in all public indoor spaces on campus during the fall academic term. Face coverings may include a mask, bandana, shield or any other covering that covers the mouth and nose.

This new protocol, which applies to students, faculty, staff and visitors, is part of a tiered approach to face covering requirements adopted by the SDBOR for the state’s six public universities. This action will be reviewed 30 days after the start of the fall academic term [USD Face Covering Policy, retrieved 2020.11.15].

Governor Noem has said she trusts the people of South Dakota to use their personal responsibility to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Alas, we can’t trust Governor Noem to use her personal responsibility to protect us.

42 Comments

  1. ds 2020-11-15 08:42

    Noem refuses to acknowledge the clear science of wearing a mask because she worships trump the former POTUS. In fact she discourages others to wear a mask by setting the example by going mask less wherever she can get away with it. Now she vows to fight any mandates by the new Biden administration. What a pathetic leader she is. As South Dakota residence face the open gates of hell, she primps herself in front of every available camera.

  2. Jason 2020-11-15 08:54

    Her behavior is killing innocent people. Her influence on young people is making it increasingly difficult to impose mask requirements in our public schools. Call her office: 605-773-3212.

  3. Jake 2020-11-15 09:18

    South Dakota GOP hypocrisy at its utmost! ‘Law and order’ GOP politicians like her show us how they figure laws don’t pertain to important people like them. 53 deaths in our little state yesterday from Covid-and she ignores the rules of the state institution because “Hey, don’tcha know I AM the governor here, I don’t need to cover my pretty face! How many other students and fans removed theirs when she comes proudly, defiantly striding in? What a horrible example to set. We are burdened with a failed Trump presidency and Noem governance.

  4. grudznick 2020-11-15 09:33

    “Mask Shaming: working or not?” is the topic of the Opening Rant at the Conservatives with Common Sense breakfast this morning. The rant is just winding down but join us for the debates.

  5. D C 2020-11-15 09:49

    Who is this person, certainly not a Governor for all the people! Furry and Magie are running her show, along with the Donald! Do we have a legislature, I guess they are with her!! No mention of Covid, better to worry about next years Hunt! She is above the Law, Masks required in Dome??

  6. grudznick 2020-11-15 09:53

    grudznick needs to now, as a follow up from breakfast, remind everybody it is not ok to assault anyone simply because they are annoying you about not wearing a mask. Do not assault the annoyers.

    To be fair I saw a masked fellow assault an unmasked fellow last night so it seems to be going both ways.

    Please love each other and be politer.

  7. jerry 2020-11-15 10:09

    Rudy with a dress, GNOem, continues to kill South Dakotan’s by 53.

    “The South Dakota Department of Health reported 53 deaths bringing November’s total to 196 and the overall number to 621. There were 202 deaths in October.

    The number was likely inflated by delayed reporting due to the midweek holiday. The state only reported one death since Wednesday.

    The deaths included 29 women and 24 men. One person in their 30s died, along with two in their 50s and three in their 60s. Thirteen deaths were reported for people in their 70s and 34 for people over 80.” Rapid City Journal 11.15.20

    Love each other and be polite, wear a damn mask and social distance. Stay home as much as possible.

  8. Spike 2020-11-15 10:09

    Worse spread in America if not the world. Wow thats something to brag about. Stress on medical workers and their health care systems, homeless shelter workers, domestic violence shelter workers, law enforcement, assisted living staff, convenience store and grocery store workers, education employees, etc, etc. Impact cascading down to people with other needs concerned about things such as medical appointments, shopping, etc. Schools are a mess. Her greed for attention is no surprise to me. But hey I’m at a football game (or bar) while gramps is in ICU. Because it’s all about me.

    I’m not ignorant to the need to live life but we are killing people with our selfishness and politics.
    Stay home for two weeks as much as possible, wear a mask when out, socially distance, etc. We would knock this is the head and give everyone some room to breathe safely.
    I don’t get it. Some discipline for two weeks would be good for everyone. Our grandparents, great grandparents, great-great grandparents would be appalled at our inability to discipline ourselves and do some sacrificing for the greater good. This behavior of entitlement disrespects their efforts to make this a great country.

    Noem knows that her and Trump could say masks work and so does social distancing and we should use them to save lives and money and all their followers would fall in line much more. But that would mean they had to admit a mistake and thats impossible with the two know it alls… After all they know more than the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency regarding the election.

    The friends and family I know are still supporting the economy. Groceries, hardware, fuel, carryout, clothes, mechanics, donating to needy causes. But we/they are not going to Deadwood, bars, unneeded social activities, shopping without masks, etc. I don’t at all expect Noem to speak out and encourage more discipline. Thats why some of us ignore her but she is encouraging our residents to spread the virus with her example. Thanks for that Gov. Exactly how far right are some south dakotans going to follow her? Rigged election Kristi? Lol.

    Benevolence is a practice not just a word.

  9. jerry 2020-11-15 10:45

    Young guys and gals, you’re not immune to this. GNOem knows this too, hell, everyone does. Now we have the science to prove it.

    “Young and previously healthy people with ongoing symptoms of Covid-19 are showing signs of damage to multiple organs four months after the initial infection, a study suggests.

    The findings are a step towards unpicking the physical underpinnings and developing treatments for some of the strange and extensive symptoms experienced by people with “long Covid”, which is thought to affect more than 60,000 people in the UK. Fatigue, brain fog, breathlessness and pain are among the most frequently reported effects.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/15/damage-to-multiple-organs-recorded-in-long-covid-cases

    Deal with it, and wear a damn mask and social distance for yourselves and others.

  10. Mark Anderson 2020-11-15 10:52

    Just wear it yourself and let the thinning of the herd take place among the ignorant. Let them liberate themselves.

  11. Whitless 2020-11-15 11:09

    We’re Number One! But no reason to celebrate or be proud. According to a recent Forbes.com article, South Dakota is the number one riskiest state in the nation to visit. Governor, despite your self-centered, Grinch like heart, try to do the right thing for South Dakota. Encourage mask wearing and set an example by wearing a mask in public.

  12. Jenny 2020-11-15 11:20

    Thanks for sharing that thread from the nurse, Joe. The nurses are exhausted and a lot of them can’t get quality rest on the days off they do get. They have families to takes care of and they can’t stop thinking of their covid patients struggling to breathe. Jodi, the nurse above says it’s alike a horror movie that never ends, but people like Kristi and her followers will say she’s just being a drama queen.
    People are never as decent as we would like to think they are. The pro-life anti-abortion obsessed crowd needs to start acting like they care about lives.
    Unfortunately, the only thing that would get the Krist crowd to possibly change would be if their own child or grandma or husband was laying in a critical care unit bed with suffering from the severe respiratory symptoms of covid.

    SD actually had 53 covid deaths in one day? Are you kidding me, is that correct?

  13. Jenny 2020-11-15 11:32

    One can not trust alcoholics to not drive after they have been drinking, Kristi, so why would we expect everyone to all of a sudden responsibly wear a mask, especially when you aren’t wearing one? I would think the parents of those teenagers in the crowd would be nervous about the possibility of any of them catching covid. What is wrong with you, SD? Young people are dying from Covid also.

    MN is requiring any young adult ages 18-34 to get a covid test.

  14. Fast Eddy 2020-11-15 11:37

    So I’ve been at home for most of the last 8 months because I am an older person. I have utilized technology to stay in contact with friends and family. I wear a mask and take along sanitizer and wipes when I have to go out. When I walk into a place where people are maskless, I leave. They don’t respect me or my life so they don’t need my business. If the operators of the business think the maskless business is more important than masked business, I’m ok with that. I used to work in health care so I think it very important to preserve this important resource by staying as healthy as I am able under these conditions. I am a responsible person. I love my country and my state. The effort of wearing a mask and social distancing is my small contribution to other citizens. If it were just the stupid thoughtless selfish people who were losing their lives over this, I would be ok. But the stupid thoughtless selfish people are taking the lives of vulnerable people who can’t protect themselves. If testing and contact tracing were effective we could tell who infected those who have died and perhaps they could face legal consequences.

  15. mike from iowa 2020-11-15 11:51

    Noem should have been hastily shown the door and banned for life for arrogantly and completely ignoring publicly posted warnings.

    Had she been Black, Brown or Native American I could see where she might have been tased numerous times, thrown to the ground, piled on and charged with resisting arrest.

  16. jerry 2020-11-15 11:53

    Just remember, GNOem followers are so damn stupid they think this is all a conspiracy. They don’t wear masks because the death around them is a hoax. They think trump won the election because somehow the conspiracy is so vast that there are no clues in how it was done so that means republicans were in on it as well.

    GNOem showing up without a mask to a place where people aren’t wearing them, is pretty much the state of affairs of a state that is leading with the confirmed cases of the trump/GNOem virus. Stupid be thy name.

  17. bearcreekbat 2020-11-15 12:06

    Fast Eddy has an excellent point about holding someone responsible when they infect another person with COVID 19. Here is a 1989 scholarly legal analysis examining rules that impose liability on someone who transmits an STD to another person. The principles discussed here seem to have the potential to be applied to COVID 19 as well.

    Imposition of tort liability for transmission of contagious diseases, . . . has existed for over a century in . . . jurisdictions. 8 Infected plaintiffs have recovered under various theories including negligence,9 intentional infliction of emotional distress,fraud,11 and assault or battery.12

    A cause of action in negligence is based upon the existence of a duty, breach of that duty, causation-both factual and legal-and damage. 13 In the context of a sexually transmitted disease case, the existence of a duty is defined by the ability of the person knowingly infected with the disease to foresee that his partner may become infected as a result of his act or omission. 14 The relationship between partners to an intimate sexual encounter, and the interest of the state in protecting its citizens from the spread of STDs, also gives rise to a duty on the part of one knowingly infected with an STD to abstain from sexual relations, or to advise an intimate partner of the risk of contracting the disease.

    https://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1531&context=ublr

    Given the public knowledge on the transmission of COVID 19 by failure to wear a mask or socially distance it would seem that the danger of infecting other persons would be found to be foreseeable. If that is the case, then it follows that a duty also would be found to exist requiring anyone to take reasonable steps not to infect another person, just as such a duty has been found in cases involving other contagious diseases. Breach of that duty could then have serious legal consequences in both civil and criminal law.

  18. cibvet 2020-11-15 12:28

    I suspect BCB is right on the legal consequences, its just that the only “deep pocket” available is the state government (noem) who would be defended by Ravensberg. Come to think about it, that could certainly be a winnable case against two losers.

  19. First mate smee 2020-11-15 12:48

    To bad she doesn’t respect the rules set down by the university, but then they don’t apply to her or anyone else in her party. America will remember the dead in her path when she runs for president. Pretty and stupid seem to go hand in hand.

  20. mike livingston 2020-11-15 12:52

    Lil Queenie is being a good little trumpette, the LOSER on the hill has directed his minions to create a myriad of distractions so the real skulduggery in Georgia can be more obscure.

  21. bearcreekbat 2020-11-15 13:10

    A quick look at the South Dakota Codified Laws indicates there are several statutes that might be relevant in any civil or criminal action involving the spread of COVID 19, including, but not limited to, the following:

    20-9-1. Responsibility for injury by willful act or negligence–Contributory negligence.

    Every person is responsible for injury to the person, property, or rights of another caused by his willful acts or caused by his want of ordinary care or skill, subject in the latter cases to the defense of contributory negligence.

    . . .

    20-9-52. Intentional exposure to HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, chancroid, or other communicable disease.

    Any person who knowingly violates the provisions of § 22-18-31, 34-22-5, or 34-23-1 is liable for civil damages.

    . . .

    34-22-5. Exposure of self or others to communicable disease as misdemeanor.

    Each person who intentionally exposes himself or herself or another person infected with any communicable disease in any public place, except in the person’s necessary removal from a public place in a manner not dangerous to the public health, is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

    SDCL 34-22-5 seems right on point when it comes to the refusal to wear a mask in a public place. I suppose Kristi sees this kind of like laws against the dangers of a speeding car, namely, a detail that can be ignored.

  22. 96Tears 2020-11-15 14:18

    COVID Kristi must need Jason Ravnsborg in office to block criminal and civil cases aimed at her willful negligence to prevent deaths, and using her office to aid and abet the deaths and destruction of hundreds of South Dakota and other states. Rather than cancel, COVID Kristi insisted crowds attend her tax-financed Mt. Rushmore tribute to Trump’s campaign, the State Fair, the Sturgis bike rally and several other super spreader events without social distancing and without masking. Ravnsborg is her shield, just as William Barr is Trump’s. Little wonder she’s slow-walking the investigation into the killing of Joe Boever by Ravnsborg. Any attorney general possessing intelligence would not be craven COVID Kristi’s human shield.

  23. kj trailer trash 2020-11-15 15:33

    Lots of excellent comments on here and I’ll read the rest of them later. It just occurred to me that Noem is like one of those sea creatures who live their entire lives, disguised or in a hole in the coral somewhere, waiting for an unsuspecting fish or other critter to swim close by. She waits for any public event to be scheduled or announced, then pounces on it from her dark hole of ignorance and stupidity, using it as a vehicle to attempt to own us libs and set an example of moron-ness to her fans by hyping the event and then attending it, ingloriously maskless, if she isn’t busy with C-Lew, that is. For all I know, she isn’t even a hockey fan, yet by golly she bragged that up on her moron feed on FB.

  24. Spike 2020-11-15 16:04

    Fast Eddy your great. Its like Noem wants people to suffer. Insane. I’m so grateful to be able to see sensible comments here. Gives us strength to continue amongst this craziness.

  25. John Dale 2020-11-15 17:41

    I think the brainwashing regarding covid, masks, and the President is profound.

    It’s a big problem, but also validates the effectiveness of the big psychological experiment that is social networking systems online.

    For some levity and other interesting takes, please feel free to peel off and visit SCL at PT.

  26. grudznick 2020-11-15 17:59

    Mr. Dale, what is

    SCL at PT

  27. Richard Schriever 2020-11-15 19:37

    grudz, Second Class Lawyer @ Party of Trump.

  28. Jenny 2020-11-15 19:47

    Good lord, what a bunch of crybabies. The Republicans really need to lay back and smoke a fatty. It’ll be okay.

  29. kj trailer trash 2020-11-15 21:15

    Jenny, to be fair, the 53 deaths followed only one death in 2 days, so there was some delayed reporting, apparently, but the 7-day moving average is now almost 16 deaths/day, so yeah it’s plenty bad.

  30. John 2020-11-16 05:03

    The US acts like a perpetual adolescent, that impetuous, undisciplined teenager or twenty-something who never grows up. Mere discipline, or the lack of it, is the core problem of the COVID pandemic. “Failures of imagination and an abdication of discipline” are the problem that allowed the COVID pandemic to run wild, and too often, the core of most US problems.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/15/hong-kong-is-beating-this-virus-why-cant-we/

  31. T 2020-11-16 05:12

    Did anyone approach her and ask her to wear a mask and remind her of the policy?

  32. Jenny 2020-11-16 07:24

    Thanks for the info, kj.

    Interesting article, John.
    Asians, particularly East Asians, have higher IQs than Americans and take their education far more seriously. The stupidity of Americans never ceases to amaze me.

  33. o 2020-11-16 08:36

    grudznick: “Please love each other and be politer.”

    What better way right now to show your love and care for others than to wear a mask?

    The modern GOP (and to be fair, much of society in general) is failing “The Marshmallow Test.” Rand-level selfishness will be the demise of this good nation — or at least the demise of the good in this nation.

  34. Jenny 2020-11-16 09:30

    Practice what you preach, Grudznick. It’s because of you that Debbo doesn’t come on here anymore and also many others.

  35. Jake 2020-11-16 10:10

    T-why should ANYONE have to ask the governor if she can read posted warnings?

  36. Lui 2020-11-16 11:12

    Ignorant & arrogant – a dangerous combination.

  37. Dick B 2020-11-16 13:47

    I have sent a note to the Clay County States Attorney to inquire as to whether anyone has inquired as to pressing a charge against Noem for a Misdemeanor Class 2 violation for trespass.

    I doubt I’ll hear back. But … it seems like it could be a question misfeasance and whether arrogance prevails over medical mitigation measures in a time of crisis.

    Section 22-35-6 – Entering or refusing to leave property after notice-Misdemeanor
    Any person who, knowing that he or she is not privileged to do so, enters or remains in any place where notice against trespass is given by:

    (1) Actual communication to the person who subsequently commits the trespass;
    (2) Posting in a manner reasonably likely to come to the attention of trespassers; or
    (3) Fencing or other enclosure which a reasonable person would recognize as being designed to exclude trespassers;
    is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

    Dick Bursell

  38. Gail 2020-11-16 22:01

    Rumor has it that the photo of a maskless Kristi Noem at USD has now been photoshopped to show her wearing one. I haven’t seen such a picture but, sadly, I wouldn’t be surprised.

  39. First mate smee 2020-11-18 06:56

    At least your governor has chosen to be stupid in public. Our governor (Arizona) runs and hides with his tail between his legs saying we have a plan, which is no plan at all other then to stay out of the limelight and watch people die.

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