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People Coughed at Officers Who Told Them to Leave Playground Closed by COVID-19 (VIDEO)

 

Have you finished your daily routine yet? For example: making your bed, brushing your teeth, reading new stories about people coughing (or spitting or sneezing) on law enforcement amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Yeah … it’s become a bit of a thing. In the latest incident, this one out of Concord, New Hampshire, footage shows local police asking people to leave a playground because of the outbreak. Those individuals, who seem to be parents, responded in snide fashion.

An officer said they were free to use the rest of the park.

“Oh, we’re free to use all of the park,” said an unidentified man. “This is still America.”

Concord police said they’re investigating and charges are possible, according to NECN.

The confrontation continued, and escalated at least some of the parents apparently coughing right at the cops. The officers turned around and stepped away. A man holding a small child follows them.

At least one person linked to the incident has been identified, but denied coughing at or other wise being antagonistic to the cops. Rochelle Kelley is a member of the Weare School Board. There’s now a Change.org petition to remove her.

“Whether these actions and/or words were performed by her or in her presence, we the undersigned have lost faith in her ability to objectively, civilly, and maturely advocate for the children of Weare and its taxpayers,” the petition states.

She argued to NECN in an email that police were infringing on their right to assembly.

“The officers remained calm and kind, which I found admirable,” she wrote.

Weare School Board Chair Wendy Curry said there’s no “legal mechanism” for the board to remove a member.

You can watch the full video here:

Edited to upload the actual video. Just to point out that I did not call out a specific person in this video. But I did pull this from her page as it was posted publically. I reached out to the school board as I found the behavior disgusting. I asked them to I investigate this person and I was told in response that nothing is wrong with her protesting as she was not acting as a school board member. So while no one said it was her, they didn't exactly say it wasn't. I disagree with I school board response. I believe our community should know this is happening, school board member or not.Editing again… this happened at a Concord Park and the woman filming is from Weare and on the Weare School board. Edit 4/30 just because some people are confused… The supreme court case Jacobson vs the Commonwealth of Massachusetts- In its 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court acknowledged individual liberty rights but emphasized the state's police powers to handle a health emergency. The justices highlighted concerns for the "common good"…. this case is the reason the police are right and these people are not. Nevermind the name calling, coughing and spitting. This is Weare and our school board, although filmed in Concord at a Concord park. She removed this video since being called out (or blocked me, I'm not sure which). But I downloaded it before she could remove it. Welcome to Weare!

Posted by Leah Marie on Sunday, April 26, 2020

[Screengrab via Facebook]

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