Several hundred gathered outside the Oakland County Board of Commissioners meeting on Thursday, protesting against the county-wide mask mandate issued for all preschool and K-12 students and staff.

The protest was organized as parents push for choice in whether to mask their children in schools, as well as calls for transparency in the data being used to make the decisions. Michigan’s two largest counties - Wayne and Oakland - have issued mask-wearing requirements for all public schools in their boundaries, regardless of individual school district policy.

Police initially restricted access to the Commissioners Auditorium and Thursday night Board meeting, blocking the crowd from entering due to capacity limitations. Eventually the Board allowed people to be rotated in for public comment while maintaining internal capacity restrictions, giving parents and community members a few minutes each to offer their comments on the issue.