New York lawyer fired from city job after criticizing mayor for ‘masking toddlers’
A lawyer for New York City was fired after she crashed a news conference to confront the mayor, Eric Adams, about the city’s mask mandate for children aged two to four.
Daniela Jampel, who had worked for the city law department since 2016, was fired later on Monday, a department spokesperson said.
Jampel was fired after she attended a City Hall press conference and demanded Adams “unmask our toddlers”. The law department spokesperson said she misrepresented herself as a journalist at the press conference.
The Democratic mayor announced last Friday that a mask rule for children under five in schools and daycare centers would remain in effect because of a rise in Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron BA.2 variant of the virus.
Jampel has been a vocal advocate for keeping schools open and for ending mask mandates during the coronavirus pandemic.
The law department spokesperson said the decision to fire Jampel was made before Monday because of “troubling claims” she made about her work for the department.
The spokesperson appeared to be referencing a tweet Jampel posted on Friday and then deleted that said that as an attorney for the city she had “represented cops who lie in court, teachers who molest children, prison guards who beat inmates”.
The tweet continued: “It is a job I have done proudly. Until tonight. Fighting to keep masks on toddlers is shameful. I am ashamed of my office.”
Jampel posted and deleted another tweet after her firing saying she was retaining counsel. Messages asking for comment were sent to Jampel on Tuesday.
Jampel also told followers: “It’s been a circus for the past few hours but I am
hearing and seeing all of your supportive texts and [messages]. The fight continues.”
The comedian Kathy Griffin replied: “I see that you follow me, Daniela. So, I had half my lung removed because I had cancer and now I’m super high risk.
What if people like me need your kids to wear masks (in addition to us wearing ours) because there are so many high risk people? Cmon. Whatdya [sic] say?”