An Idaho anti-vaccination activist protesting the closure of a local playground during the coronavirus pandemic was busted for refusing to leave, according to a new report.
Sara Walton Brady, 40, of Meridian, was arrested at Julius M. Kleiner Memorial Park in Meridian Tuesday afternoon in a caught-on-camera scene that has since gone viral.
Walton Brady was in the shuttered playground area of the park with several other families — including children who were using playground equipment that had been cordoned off — Tuesday afternoon when police asked the group to disperse, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Walton Brady — who has been outspoken in the past about government-imposed restrictions — refused to leave despite repeated warnings, including a countdown of five seconds to vamoose.
“Am I being arrested or detained?” Walton Brady asked the officers as they handcuffed her, in a video clip posted to Facebook by another woman.
Her fellow protesters can be heard jeering as she is led away from the playground.
“Her kids are here! Her kids are here!” one woman yells. “What is gonna happen?”
Walton was arrested on one count of misdemeanor trespassing, according to the Statesman. She was booked into Ada County Jail and released after posting a $300 cash bond Tuesday evening. Her next court date is set for May 29.
Health Freedom Idaho posted a video of Walton Brady addressing a crowd outside City Hall after she was released.
“I’m going to fight this,” Walton Brady declared. “I was in a public park I pay taxes on.”
“Please let this inspire you,” she said. “Please, let’s continue to band together as freedom lovers, and let’s stop this tyranny that’s occurring.”
Walton Brady is an activist for parental medical rights at the Idaho Statehouse, and runs the Facebook group Idahoans for Vaccine Freedom, according to the Statesman.
After Walton Brady’s arrest, police cordoned off the playground again with caution tape, only for some people to take that tape down as well.
“These are very trying times, and the Meridian Police Department supports the public’s right to assemble for peaceful protest,” police said in a press release. “However, the right does not include damaging public property or ignoring closures of city property and facilities.”