Letters to the Editor: Hey, young people, ‘influencer’ parties aren’t essential

To the editor: I am nearly apoplectic that we are still seeing comments like those made by a neighbor of one of the social media “influencer” party houses, who apparently feels that “young people should decide whether they want to risk getting sick from the virus.”

Don’t people understand by now that none of us has the luxury of making decisions solely for ourselves? Every infected person becomes a vector for transmission, regardless of whether they experience symptoms themselves. Asymptomatic carriers may be even more dangerous because they are unaware of the danger they present.

Ignorance and selfishness are a fatal combination, and right now they represent a parallel epidemic in this country that threatens to be as destructive as the virus itself.

Michael Weintraub, Santa Monica

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To the editor: Regarding a TikTok video creator holding a large birthday party, you report that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has banned large gatherings and authorized the shutoff of utilities at homes where hosts defy public health orders.

However, you do not point out that on the June 23, 2020, front page of the L.A. Times, Garcetti appeared in a photo in the middle of a very crowded protest speaking into a microphone without wearing a mask, thereby defying the very rules he seeks to impose on others.

Perhaps someone should turn off the maskless mayor’s water and power — or at least his microphone.

David Ozeran, Tustin