A mother was handcuffed and arrested after protesting against lockdown orders by taking her children to a closed playground.
The incident occurred at Kleiner Park in Meridian, Idaho, where 40-year-old mum-of-four Sara Walton Brady joined the anti-lockdown protest as she brought her kids to the closed park and refused to leave when officers showed up.
The protest was brought to life by Idaho Freedom Foundation, an organization that aims to “free people from government dependency” according to their website.
Since the coronavirus lockdown was put in place, the group has been organizing protests against Governor Brad Little’s orders across the state.
According to the reports, Brady and several other protestors were told to leave the premises because the playground’s under lockdown.
While the demonstrators were told they could go to the park for recreation instead, they allegedly refused to budge, leaving officers with no choice but to arrest them.
“Ma’am, I’ve told you to exit numerous times. This is it. Exit the playground now. I’m really trying to be nice about this,” one of the officers told Brady in a video taken by a witness.
After the mum refused to leave, the officers gave her five seconds before handcuffing her and taking her to the police station for trespassing. Later the same day, she was released and able to join another mass protest in Idaho.
“These are very trying times and the Meridian Police Department supports the public’s right to assemble for peaceful protest, however the right does not include damaging public property or ignoring closures of City property and facilities,” the Meridian Police Department explained in a statement after the arrest went viral.point 604 | 1
The mother has also spoken out and said she felt “singled out” due to being the only one who got arrested at the playground.
“I wasn’t the only person standing on the bark. I definitely wasn’t playing on the playground equipment. I wasn’t swinging, never touched them. But yeah, I do feel like I was singled out and maybe it was because I asked too many questions,” she told KBOI.
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