Dr. Faisal Khan (pictured), the acting health director in St. Louis County, has butted heads with officials and constituents resistant to COVID precautions since he was appointed to the position in February, most notably garnering national attention for flipping the middle finger to anti-mask protesters last summer
A public health official in Missouri has come under fire for calling opponents of COVID mandates a 'lunatic fringe' and 'irrelevant fools' in a Tuesday email.
Dr. Faisal Khan, the acting health director in St. Louis County, has butted heads with officials and constituents resistant to COVID precautions since he was appointed to the position in February, most notably garnering national attention for flipping the middle finger to anti-mask protesters last summer.
In the Tuesday email, sent to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by incensed Republican officials, Khan wishes his employees a happy Thanksgiving and thanks them for their efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic:
'I know that the vast majority of the people in St. Louis County are very thankful to each and every one of you for everything you have done to protect them throughout this once-in-a-century public health emergency,' Khan wrote.
He added: 'Please ignore the lunatic fringe that exists in every society. They were there one hundred years ago and will likely be around 100 years in the future. They are irrelevant fools.'
In the Tuesday email, sent to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by incensed Republican officials, Khan wishes his employees a happy Thanksgiving, thanks them for their efforts amid the COVID-19 pandemic and calls those against mandates 'irrelevant'
The email came as opponents decried a county requirement that residents wear masks in public and on public transportation, which the Post-Dispatch wrote have been contentious in the state and have been legally challenged by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.
Councilman Tim Fitch, who has voted against mask requirements in the county, forwarded the offending email to media outlets on Wednesday along with the reply he sent to its recipients:
'I’m stunned that you had to read this from your department leader,' Fitch wrote. 'This is not what I or you should expect from a county government official.'
Neither Fitch nor Khan could be reached by DailyMail.com for comment regarding the controversial email.
