An Ohio woman was tased and handcuffed on Wednesday for not wearing a mask at an outdoor eighth-grade football game, according to reports.
The woman, identified as Alecia Kitts, was reportedly refusing to wear a mask when approached by a school security officer on Wednesday, WTAP-TV reported. The officer “appears to use a taser on the parent, before placing her in handcuffs,” the station said.
In a video shot by another attendee of the game, Kitts yells “Don’t touch me!” as cheerleaders can be heard in the background. “Get off of me! I will not put my hands behind my back!”
The woman taking the video says, “This is over a mask. I don’t think he can arrest her for not wearing a mask. This is not a warning,” she says with a laugh.
In the video, Kitts can be seen sitting far away from other people in the bleachers. As a large male officer and another woman wrestled with her, she yelled, “This is bulls***!”
Kitts then screams as the officer tases her. “They tased someone over a mask,” the woman taking the video says.
“C’mon! It’s just a mask!” another person yells.
Only in LOGAN OHIO does a person get TASED AND ARRESTED for not wearing a freaking MASKHere u can also see very clearly that NEITHER of these cops even had a mask on, (or it was pulled down, serving absolutely no purpose, in the male officers case) yet they’re arresting this girl for not wearing a mask 😳🙄TURN VOLUME UP👮♀️ Police brutality at its finestStop messaging me, nothing anyone ever says will justify what that cop did.
Posted by Tiffany Lynn on Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Kitts is reportedly the parent of a child in the Marietta City Schools (MCS) and had traveled to an away game in Logan.
“I’m grateful that it didn’t happen in Marietta, but it saddens me that it was Marietta that caused it in Logan,” MCS Athletic Director Cody Venderlic told The Marietta Times. “As athletic directors, we’ve talked about this too and the biggest challenge about dealing with visiting fans is people behave much better at home than when they’re on the road.”
Monte Bainter, superintendent for the Logan-Hocking Local School District, confirmed the incident happened and released this statement, according to WBNS-TV:
During a middle school football game held at Logan-Hocking Local School District on the evening of Sept. 23, 2020, an attendee was asked to comply with the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s and the athletic facility’s policies. The attendee refused to do so and consequently was asked to leave by the attending law enforcement officer. After resisting the request to exit the premises, the individual was apprehended at the discretion of the attending law enforcement officer. The school district is not able to comment further on details of the incident due to the ongoing investigation.
“The superintendent also confirms the law enforcement officer seen in the video is the school resource officer who was on duty at the time,” the station reported.
Said Vederlic: The governor and the [Ohio] health department have made it very clear that masks are required indoor and outdoor at sports facilities. They’re just part of the expectation.”
The incident follows another in Arlington, Virginia, where a father says his 9-year-old son was sent home from his elementary school because he sneezed.
The fourth grade student at Bishop Elementary School was told he can’t return until he gets a negative COVID-19 test.
“I sneezed two times then the teacher told me to go to the nurse,” said Lancinet Keita, according to CBS.