A Wyoming teenager was handcuffed and led to jail by cops for trespassing on school grounds after she refused to wear a face mask. Grace Smith, a 16-year-old junior at Laramie High School, believes that mask mandates violate her constitutional rights; therefore, she stood for her right by refusing to wear a face mask in school.
The 16-year-old Wyoming teenager was arrested on Thursday for trespassing after she refused to leave school grounds. Grace has since raised $53,000 in donations. After a 90-minute school-wide lockdown, Grace was handcuffed and taken to jail by cops.
Based on her past records, Grace, also known to be a straight ‘A’ student, has never broken the law. She received up to $1,000 trespassing fines for refusing to wear a mask and refusing to leave campus. Grace has received three separate two-day suspensions.
She followed the first suspension and, however, contested the next two.
‘I just left,’ the teen told the Laramie Boomerang about her first run-in with administrators. ‘Then, after talking with our attorney, we decided to push it, so on Tuesday I didn’t (leave) and took the citation for $500 and then left.’
Grace received another ticket on Thursday but was not willing to leave, causing a showdown in the middle of the school building.
The Albany County School District first began requiring students to wear masks inside their buildings on September 8. The school board will talk about extending the date this week.
Moreover, it wasn’t clear if Grace returned to school on Monday, which is the first day she would’ve been allowed back after being suspended on Thursday, according to a district spokesman per Daily Mail.
An officer tried to reason with Grace in a video captured on the teenager’s phone.
Grace’s father also posted a video on YouTube that shows his daughter being led to the Albany County Detention Center.
Explaining her beliefs, Grace said: ‘It’s because I’m growing up in a country where I’m supposed to have my God-given rights to protect, and they’re being taken away. Everybody has the freedom to wear a mask if they choose, but I believe everybody also has the right to not wear a mask if they choose.’
Grace, who now faces the possibility of expulsion, has raised $53,275 on GiveSendGo, a right-wing donation platform popular with January 6 Capitol rioters.
