High School Student Arrested for Refusing to Wear a Mask at School
A Wyoming high school student was arrested on Thursday as a result of her refusal to wear a mask, the Laramie Boomerang reported.
Grace Smith was arrested for trespassing at Laramie High School when she declined to leave school grounds after refusing to comply with the mask requirement as a form of protest, according to an interview she did with Republican state Senator Anthony Bouchard of Wyoming.
Smith’s arrest caused a “brief lockdown” to “prevent further interruptions to academic learning,” the Albany County School District said in a statement, according to the Laramie Boomerang.
Smith recorded her arrest, which her father posted to YouTube.
“When asked if they’re arresting her for (not wearing) her mask, they would say, ‘No, we’re arresting her for her violation of failure to comply in accordance with their trespassing ordinance,’” Andy Smith, Grace’s father, told Bouchard.
As of Friday, Grace faced her third suspension for refusing to wear a mask, along with $1,000 in trespassing fines. She says she has a right to stay at school to further her education as a “straight-A student” who has “never broken the law,” in her own words.
“I would never choose to do anything wrong, and I never saw myself sitting in the back of a cop car, handcuffed,” Smith said.
The school district told the Laramie Boomerang that it “does not comment on student discipline matters” when asked how many students have been suspended for defying the mask rule.
The mask mandate was approved by the “Albany County School District #1 Board of Trustees” on Sept. 8, and though the mandate will continue until Oct. 15, officials intend to meet Wednesday evening to discuss the rule, the Laramie Boomerang reported.
“I get cussed out a lot,” Smith told the Laramie Boomerang. “People have called me mean names. Nobody has physically harmed me, but some of my best friends now won’t talk to me.”
“The discrimination from the teachers is just absurd,” she added. “I had one teacher who tried to force a mask onto my face.”
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