On Tuesday, a New York judge dismissed the criminal trespassing charge against Shannon Joy, who was arrested on August 25 at a school board meeting after she was asked to leave for improperly wearing her mask and refused to do so.
The story: Shannon Joy emerged victorious on Tuesday after the prosecution agreed to drop the criminal trespassing charge against her for failing to leave a Fairport Central School District meeting after she was asked to leave for not wearing her mask over her nose.
The state agreed to drop the charge “in the interest of justice,” declining to use the state’s resources for a case where the seriousness of the trespassing was so minor.
On August 25, videos surfaced of Joy being escorted by Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies out of the school meeting. As the video begins, Joy can be seen in the board room with her mask around her chin.
Later, she detailed that initially she was asked to leave because her mask was not over the bridge of her nose.
“I was told to leave a public meeting because my mask was on the tip of my nose and not the BRIDGE of my nose,” she tweeted. “When I declined to leave for such a stupid reason they declared I was TRESPASSING and had me arrested in charged with criminal trespass.”
Worth noting: Joy, however, thinks there was different motive at play.
“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,” she told the Daily Wire. “I have been an outspoken community organizer with a large media platform and am often critical of the board’s policy and practices regarding masking, coerced vaccination, critical race theory & comprehensive sex education.”
“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,” Joy continued. “Instead, they have inadvertently outraged our community even further.”
Joy’s comments on the dismissal: After the court hearing on Tuesday, Joy spoke to press outside the court building, stating: “This was for all of you as much as it was for me. Parents are very concerned about what’s happening in their schools right now for a variety of reasons and they need to be a part of that process. For school boards and superintendents to make an example out of me so they can intimidate all of you—for them to be so roundly dismissed and summarily dismissed in such a dramatic way is a victory for the people.”
When asked for comment, President of the Fairport Central School District school board Peter Forsgren responded, “The district followed its established policy regarding the public comment period.”
“Ms. Joy was not on the list for public comments,” Forsgren stated.
See Joy’s tweets:
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.