A Massachusetts police department slammed the state's COVID-19 restrictions in a tweet, saying they 'punish their residents'

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A Massachusetts police department slammed the state's COVID-19 restrictions in a tweet, saying they 'punish their residents'
RN Todd Paul enters the apartment building and passes a sign calling for Covid-19 safety as he makes his way to visit his veteran/patient's home in Boston, Massachusetts on March 4, 2021.Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
  • The Bedford Police Department tweeted and deleted a criticism of Massachusetts' coronavirus rules.
  • The state's leaders "will punish their residents for as long as they can," the tweet said.
  • The department apologized for the incident and said an employee had "mistakenly" tweeted an opinion.
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A police department in Massachusetts tweeted, then deleted, a pointed criticism of the state's coronavirus restrictions, accusing leaders of wanting to "punish their residents for as long as they can."

The tweet was in response to a news story by the local ABC affiliate WCVB-TV about new pandemic safety guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Monday, the CDC announced it was safe for fully vaccinated people to gather indoors without masks or social distancing, or to visit low-risk family members.

"It doesn't matter Massachusetts will not adopt this they will punish their residents for as long as they can," the Bedford Police Department responded in a since-deleted tweet that WCVB captured in a screenshot.

The police department later tweeted out an apology for "this lapse in judgment by a staff member," explaining that the employee had "mistakenly" shared their personal opinion on the department's Twitter account.

"The employee immediately bought their mistake forward to their supervisor and to the chief of police," the statement said. "The Tweet was quickly taken down, as it does not represent the feelings or opinions of the Bedford Police Department or the Town of Bedford."

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The statement added that the police department would remove the staff member's access to the Twitter account, and be retrained on the department's social media policy.

The state of Massachusetts has not yet announced any policy changes in light of the CDC's new guidance, but has been gradually lifting various pandemic-related restrictions as it shifts later this month to the fourth phase of its four-stage reopening plan. At that point capacity limits for indoor and outdoor gatherings - both in private residences and in public spaces - will increase. Stadiums, arenas, and ballparks will also be permitted to open, along with exhibition and convention halls.

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