Shannon Joy, a mother and local radio host in Rochester, New York filed a federal lawsuit against her school board, as she was arrested last year and accused of trespassing during a meeting after she allegedly did not wear a mask properly.
Joy said that she only pushed the mask down for a moment so she could put a piece of gum in her mouth, but that was when the school board broke for recess, called 911, and specifically directed authorities to arrest her.
In a video that caught the whole scene, it can be seen that Joy was cuffed, arrested, and charged with “trespassing.”
Joy believes that the school board targeted her specifically over her past activism and that it was meant to be made as an example to discourage other parents from speaking out.
But in the interest of “justice,” the trespassing charge against Joy was dismissed, and shortly after she and her legal team filed the federal lawsuit to help other parents across the nation hit with trespassing charges over supposed masks/virus violations.
“When they called the recess, I got this sinking feeling that they were going to arrest, potentially, me. This particular meeting was very different than previous meetings. The board had worked with an outside organization called ‘Black In The Burbs,’ which is a suburban version of BLM (Black Lives Matter) and they brought in about 25 activists — all with red shirts,” Joy recalled.
“When I came into that meeting there were probably six or seven cameras on me from the second I walked into that room. So, everyone sensed that something was very different about this meeting,” she explained.
“The only time [my mask] came underneath my nose was when I took it down to put a piece of gum in my mouth. And in that moment, that’s when Mary White, who was a school board member, signaled to security and other members of the board that they wanted to go to recess. They then went to recess and I was told by the arresting officer that they called 911, requested specifically that Shannon Joy is arrested,” Joy said.
She also said that it was one of the most uncomfortable situations that she has ever endured and that she’s ‘glad that it happened because it exposed what these school boards are capable of.’
“But it was terrifying, humiliating… The conversations I had to have that evening with my kids and my husband, my neighbors, it’s divided a lot of our neighborhood. It’s a difficult battle … but I’m not gonna back down. That’s the thing, what they did was wrong, and this is why we are filing this federal lawsuit,” she added.
“It is becoming blatantly apparent that the Fairport School Board, Superintendent Brett Provenzano and outside organization ‘Black In The Burbs’ collaborated to create meeting conditions designed to result in my arrest. I have been an outspoken community organizer with a large media platform and am often critical of the board’s policy & practices regarding masking, coerced vaccination, Critical Race Theory & Comprehensive Sex Education,” Joy believes.
She continued: “These individuals are so frightened of transparency and organic, open discourse that they sought to silence, intimidate and publicly humiliate me to serve as a warning to any other parent who dares to speak up. Instead, they have inadvertently outraged our community even further.”
On the other side, Peter Forsgren, President of the Fairport Central School District school board said that ‘the district followed its established policy regarding the public comment period. Ms. Joy was not on the list for public comments.’
Editor’s note: she seems like an attention seeker looking for her five minutes of fame.
Yup. I was handcuffed & detained by Monroe County Sheriff tonight for inappropriately wearing my mask at the Fairport School District board meeting. Full video HERE. https://t.co/kwPNMImgUq pic.twitter.com/dEt7CjOGZ3
— Shannon Joy (@ShannonJoyRadio) August 25, 2021