Fake Government Agency Sold Bogus ‘Mask Exemption Cards’ Online, Feds Say

Cards offering an “exemption” from wearing face masks are bogus, according to federal officials.

The cards, sold by the “Freedom to Breathe Agency,” supposedly granted holders exemptions from wearing face coverings in public spaces, The New York Times reported.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) did not approve or distribute the cards, according to U. S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin of the Middle District of North Carolina said in a June 25 statement. “These cards do not carry the force of law. The ‘Freedom to Breathe Agency,’ or ‘FTBA,’ is not a government agency,” Martin said.

“Wearing a face mask posses a mental and/or physical risk to me. Under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), I am not required to disclose my condition to you,” is printed on the card, the New York Times reported. However, “poses” is misspelled on the card, which also mistakenly refers to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Martin’s statement did not mention legal consequences for the group, according to the DOJ press release.

“Face mask does not protect you from a vicious pathogen,” Lenka Koloma, founder of the Freedom To Breathe Agency, said on her website. “Wearing cheap face mask and/or cloth bandana will not stop transmission of a pathogen. Wearing a mask is a part of subliminal mind conditioning.”

Koloma posted an ad for the cards on her page, which Facebook flagged as “false information checked by independent fact-checkers.” The cards were sold on a Shopify page, which was nonexistent as of Sunday afternoon, the Times reported.

The group’s communications team claimed the cards were made to be used as “an educational tool” to advise people of “their legal and human rights so they can stand... (Read more)

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