An Ohio woman was tasered and forcibly removed from a middle school football game on Wednesday evening after refusing to wear a face mask.
A video of the incident, which garnered over 440,000 views on Facebook, shows school resource officer Chris Smith in a heated exchange with a fan in the stands of Logan High School Stadium.
Smith reportedly asked the woman to wear a face mask, but she refused claiming she has asthma, according to a statement from the Logan Police Department.
The exchange escalated when the woman, who was later identified by the Logan Police Department as Alecia Kitts, apparently refused to follow Smith’s instructions and started to yell.
“Get off of me! I will not put my hands behind my back. I’m not criminally doing nothing wrong!” Kitts can be heard yelling in the video.
After refusing to put her hands behind her back, the officer can be seen tasering her in the back and then handcuffing her, before escorting her out of the arena.
“This is bulls---,” another spectator can be heard saying in the background of the video. “Tasing this lady over not wearing a d--- mask.”
Another spectator can also be heard threatening to sue the officer for his actions.
Kitts was charged with criminal trespassing and released at the scene, according to the statement from the Logan Police Department. She was not charged for her choice not to wear a mask and additional charges are pending, the statement added. Kitts did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
The Logan-Hocking Local School District told NBC News affiliate WCMH that the woman was a fan of the opposing football team, Marietta City School.
“During a middle school football game held at the Logan-Hocking Local School District on the evening of September 23, 2020, 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.”
Logan-Hocking schools were placed on lockdown Thursday after receiving threats that law enforcement believe are associated with Wednesday evening’s incident, Bainter told WCMH.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Ohio has had a statewide mask mandate for all indoor locations and outdoor spaces, where social distancing is not possible, in effect since July 23. The Ohio Health Department also issued a health order mandating the use of masks in schools statewide, from August 4.
