Three Washington state schools went into lockdown as anti-maskers protest outside a high school and try to break in

 Three Pacific Northwest schools went into lockdown Friday afternoon after anti-mask demonstrators tried to break into a Vancouver, Washington, high school during school hours. 

Vancouver school officials locked down for the afternoon Skyview High School, Alki Middle School and Chinook Elementary in Clark County, located along the state's border with Oregon.

'The lockdown allows normal operations to continue inside the school,' district spokesperson Patricia Nuzzo said in a statement.

'All students and staff members remain safely inside. District resource officers are onsite to help maintain safety.'

Videos emerged on Twitter around 1pm local time on Friday purportedly showing Proud Boys and other far-right extremists as well as anti-maskers chanting 'USA USA USA' outside of Skyview High School. 

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Proud Boys and other far-right extremists as well as anti-maskers are seen demonstrating outside of a Washington state high school on Friday 

Nuzzo said protesters have gathered outside the schools on Thursday and Friday to voice their anger with the state's mask requirements for staff and students.  

Pictures of groups of protesters with large banners that read, 'Stop the mandate' - seemingly a call back to 'Stop the steal' rally cries during the January 6 Capitol riot - outside the school. 

The Clark County Sheriff's Office didn't respond to DailyMail.com's calls and emails. 

School board president Kyle Sproul said locking down the schools was the proper decision to ensure student safety.

'Regardless of one’s stance on mask mandates, I think most parents in our community agree that protesting at our school campuses and disrupting the school day is not in the best interest of students,' Sproul told OPB.

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Tweets showing pictures of the protest outside Skyview High School in Vancouver, Washington on Friday, which forced three district schools to go into lockdown 

Two days earlier, a student's mother was reportedly arrested for trespassing on school grounds because her daughter refused to wear a mask in school, and her mother refused to leave after arguing with school officials.

 

Clark County has been hit hard over the last week by COVID-19 as schools reopened. 

Over the last seven days, the county has seen 1,653 new cases - a 46.5 percent increase over last week, 76 hospitalizations - a 20.6 percent increase over last week, and 15 deaths - a 67 percent jump, according to the latest numbers by the CDC. 

Only 61.4 percent of eligible state residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is more than 10 percent lower than the national average of 74 percent.