An Ohio woman was tasered and forcibly removed from a middle school football game on Wednesday night after refusing to comply with the face mask mandate. The woman, identified by authorities as Alecia Kitts, is facing charges for the incident.
A video of the incident was uploaded to Facebook and spread across social media. In it, school resource officer Chris Smith can be seen engaging in a heated argument with an individual in the stands of Logan High School’s stadium in Logan, Ohio.
According to a statement from the Logan Police Department, Smith asked Kitts to wear a face mask upon seeing her sitting in the stands maskless. However, she refused, claiming she had asthma. The argument escalated when Kitts began to yell.
When she refused to place her hands behind her back, Smith tasered her before handcuffing her. Then, he escorted Kitts out of the stadium. According to the Logan-Hocking School District, Kitts was in attendance as a fan of the opposing team, Marietta City School.
Kitts Facing Charges
In a press release, the Logan Police Department clarified that Kitts wasn’t arrested for not wearing a mask. They wrote, “She was asked to leave the premises for continually violating school policy. Once she refused to leave the premises, she was advised she was under arrest for criminal trespassing, she resisted the arrest, which led to the use of force.”
According to the press release, Kitts was charged with Criminal Trespassing and released at the scene. They also shared that additional charges were pending on Kitts and another unidentified woman from the incident.
The Logan-Hocking School District’s policy mandates that all spectators must wear a mask while on school property. Ohio has a statewide mask mandate for all indoor and outdoor spaces where social distancing is not possible. The Ohio Health Department also issued an order mandating the use of masks in schools statewide.
“An attendee was asked to comply with the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s and the athletic facility’s policies,” the district’s superintendent Monte Bainter told NBC News in a statement. “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 following morning, campuses in the school district were placed on lockdown after receiving multiple threats across the district, NBC affiliate WCMH reports. Authorities were investigating the threats and believed they were associated with the incident at the game.
Woman Tasered Mask — Sources
WCMH
NBC News
Logan Police Department