News

Idaho Mom Arrested After Refusing to Leave Playground

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Apr 22nd, 2020 · 11:36 AM EDT

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This week in viral videos we’ve got clips of an Idaho mother being arrested after bringing her kids to a closed playground and  refusing to leave.

The park apparently had police tape surrounding it and was shuttered due to the pandemic, like most public spaces in Philly right now. A group of moms and kids came to the park to protest, officers showed up and asked them to go home, and then this happened (two clips) –

.@DarlaShine Mom detained in Idaho on playground pic.twitter.com/mrzHyKlN5s

— RogueZebra (@RogueZebraTMR) April 22, 2020

This mom in Meridian, Idaho is being arrested for—wait for it—letting her kids play in a park.

When will we say enough is enough?

pic.twitter.com/lIRIaDBmFq

— Gina Bontempo (@FlorioGina) April 22, 2020

 

The Daily Mail wrote up the details:

A mother-of-four from Idaho was seen on video getting arrested on Tuesday for violating coronavirus restrictions by being at a closed playground, sparking a large protest at the the local City Hall hours later.

Sara Walton Brady, 40, from Meridian, was at the shuttered playground section at Kleiner Park with her children just before 4pm along with other people to protest against the state’s stay-at-home order.

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According to the Meridian Police Department, on Tuesday, the demonstrators removed metal signage and caution tape announcing the playground closure due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Brady and the other people were repeatedly told the playground area was off-limits and invited to use other parts of the park if they so chose.

…

Brady refused to leave and continued arguing with the officer, prompting him to give her ‘5 seconds’ to clear the playground area.

As the officer was counting down the seconds, a defiant Brady challenged him: ‘arrest me for being difficult. Do it.’

She then positioned her hands behind her back so that the officer could, place handcuffs on her, after telling the woman documenting the incident on her cellphone to ‘record it.’

So she broke the rules and knew what was going to happen. Nobody should be surprised by that. The real question is whether we’re going too far by shutting down playgrounds and parks and other public gathering spots.

If you drive around Philly, you’ll find that every park or rec center with a fence is currently gated and locked, with COVID-19 signage posted. Basketball rims have been removed or covered with wood blocks.

But parks that don’t have fences, like Penn Treaty, are open and frequently feature people walking, running, and doing other spring-ish activities. Most of these folks seem to be keeping proper distance and wearings masks, and I haven’t personally seen anybody on the slides or swings, where kids would touch the plastic or metal and then spread the virus around.

I guess the jarring thing is seeing a mom getting arrested at a playground, which feels like a symbolic and shitty image of the current times we’ve living in.