Can governments force people to wear masks? Was firing the inspector general a crime?

Mayor Eric Garcetti recently ordered all Angelenos to wear a mask or face covering in public. But the mask order here, and similar orders elsewhere in the country, have sparked some outrage. 

One woman in Palos Verdes wouldn’t wear a mask while paying for her groceries at Trader Joe’s, and store staff called the police on her. 

“We became an independent country. We have a Constitution that says that our representatives are representing our voice. They’re not dictating, it’s not top down BS. It’s not this is what you have to do, you have to stay at home, you have to wear a mask, you have to stay six feet. What — what is that?” she says in a self-recorded video.

And at the beach and on hiking trails this weekend, many other people were not following the mask order — albeit less vocally. They likely faced zero consequences. 

Also, a national story: Late Friday night, President Trump fired another inspector general. This one worked at the State Department and was reportedly investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for sending a political appointee to run personal errands for him. 

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