An Idaho woman who was arrested for trespassing in a public park during the rising frenzy of fear and government overreach stemming from conflicting media reports about COVID-19 in April 2020 continues to fight the 2-year-old misdemeanor charge on the grounds of personal liberty.
“I’m not just fighting for my innocence,” Sara Brady told The Epoch Times. “I’m fighting for America.”
On Sept. 20, Judge Adam Kimball at Ada County Courts in Boise, Idaho, delayed a decision on Brady’s motion for dismissal of the charge.
In April 2020, Brady said she was invited to a play date at the Kleiner Park in Meridian, Idaho, where the playground equipment—previously circled with caution tape that had been torn off—had been shut down by city officials to control the spread of COVID-19.
There had been social media talk of a protest of the park’s closure, she said, but when she arrived, there was the usual scene: a sunny day with mothers visiting while their children took in the fresh air while exploring the equipment.
However, she said, when she saw Meridian Police Department (MPD) officers arbitrability begin to shut down the playground and tell everyone to leave while other parts of the park were open, what became a playdate turned into a protest.
“We were a bunch of moms who had been told we weren’t essential and as a result, we had to stay in our houses for the last six weeks, so we were already a little bit on the edge,” Brady said.
Brady, who is married to a police officer, began questioning one of the officers until he threatened to arrest her.
“At that point, I just felt so singled out and was done with the stupidity of everything I had seen with how people were reacting to this virus with so much hypocrisy,” she said. “I hit my max and told him, ‘Fine, arrest me for being in a public park.’”
She was arrested and booked in the Ada County Jail, where she was released on a $300 bond hours later, she said.
‘Freest State in the Nation’
The (MPD) didn’t immediately reply to The Epoch Times’ request for comment, but according to its police report, it was responding to a complaint that the closed signs and the caution tape had been removed and that there were several adults and children in the playground area.“I informed everyone in the playground area the playground area was closed, and they needed to leave the area,” the arresting officer wrote in the report. “An adult female identified as Sara Brady wanted to know what authority I had to close the park.”
The officer said he asked Brady to leave again, then he said she “told me to arrest her.”
“I placed Brady into handcuffs and informed her I was detaining her for trespassing,” the officer wrote.
Brady argued that she wasn’t standing in a closed section of the park and that she was only asking questions.
Since, Brady said, Republican Lawrence Wasden, the state’s Attorney General, has taken on the prosecution as Brady has campaigned to bring attention to what she said she sees as a violation of freedom of speech and a state and local government blind acceptance of corrupt, socialist policies.
“The Attorney General said he’s been ready since day one to prosecute my case,” Brady said. “Idaho should be the freest state in the nation, but Republican leaders continue to look away as a mom is dragged through the court system for 2.5 years for standing on an open and legal area of the park.”
Questionable Policies
Four lawyers, two canceled trials, over 20 Zoom hearings, and $25,000 spent in legal fees later, Brady said, “The process has become the punishment.”“The longer they push this out, it just shows how punitive this is,” Brady said.
Each state government had enacted restrictive executive orders throughout 2020 and 2021 based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines that included lockdowns and staying 6 feet apart.
The effectiveness of these guidelines has come into question, as some have argued that they’ve done more harm than good.
Brady’s arrest led to several protests, among those were one in front of the city hall and at the park itself.
People who protested the executive orders compared them to the former socialist policies in Nazi Germany and the current communist health mandates in China.
At one point, Brady said she was offered a deal: pay $50 and have the misdemeanor reduced to an infraction, Brady said.
“It was insulting because my innocence is honestly worth more than that, so I countered and said, ‘You guys dismiss the case and I’ll publicly announce that you have finally done the right thing,’” Brady said. “They didn’t take the deal.”
The next hearing is set for Oct. 20, Brady said.
