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A parent was arrested after threatening to bring loaded guns to school if they enforced a mask rule for her children.
On Thursday, Amelia Ruffner King addressed the Page County School Board at a meeting held to discuss Virginia's newly-sworn Governor Glenn Youngkin's controversial executive order that allowed parents to ignore mask mandates for their children.
King, who was one of four speakers at the meeting, said:
“No mask mandates. My child—my children—will not come to school Monday with a mask on, alright? That’s not happening."
“And I will bring every single gun loaded and ready,” she said before being cut off for passing the allotted three-minute mark.
"I'll see y'all on Monday," King said as she gathered her papers and left the lectern.
\u201cNo mask mandates. My children will not come to school Monday with a mask on. I will bring every single gun, loaded and ready \u2026 I\u2019ll see y\u2019all on Monday.\u201d - woman at a Page County Public Schools board meetingpic.twitter.com/alpEwBxdQ2— philip lewis (@philip lewis) 1642779305
You can watch a news report, here.
At 7 pm on Friday, the Luray Police Department announced the consequences of King's threat at the board meeting.
"Luray Police Department has charged Amelia Ruffner King, a 42-year-old female, with a violation of the Code of Virginia 18.2-60 Oral Threat While on School Property," read the department's Facebook post.
People debated what constituted a threat in her case.
It wasn't a threat, they cut her off before she could finish her sentence. It might have been one but we don't know what she was gonna say next. She might have said the word "if" right after which would make an ultimatum, not a threat. Which unfortunately is legal.— Ryan Schambers (@Ryan Schambers) 1642810946
It was a real threat. The difference between a viable and a nonviable threat is in the details. For example; If you were in a heated argument and suddenly burst out "I'll kill you!" in a heat of the moment, it is considered a nonviable threat. But if you give details like...\n\n1/2— \ufec9\u0e04\u0188\ufedd (@\ufec9\u0e04\u0188\ufedd) 1642852183
...\n- When (monday morning)\n- Where (at the school gate)\n- How (with a gun, loaded and ready)\n- Why (to get your demands met)\n\n...it is considered a viable threat, because you strengthed your threat to force the person you're threatening to take your threat serious.\n\n2/2— \ufec9\u0e04\u0188\ufedd (@\ufec9\u0e04\u0188\ufedd) 1642852666
The only reason they took the threat seriously, because the many things that has been happening on school grounds. In a democratic country with freedom of speech n freedom to bear arms they would have re acted differently.MARS would be a democratic planet in till humans colonies— Frederic Chopin (@Frederic Chopin) 1642942172
Not sure what\u2019s worse\u2026 that she said it or that she felt so comfortable saying and thought there\u2019d be no repercussion.— Christopher \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Proud Dem (@Christopher \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Proud Dem) 1642813831
Apparently she was correct to not be concerned about repercussions.https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1484686658616262658\u00a0\u2026— Christopher \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Proud Dem (@Christopher \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Proud Dem) 1642815754
Others stressed her remark was not to be taken lightly.
This is public evidence now. No one can say they didn't see this coming. This woman must be held in custody, her children must be removed from her care, her home must be searched, her weapons must be seized. "Monday" can NOT happen. @FBI— \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc99Cassandra VAXXED AND MASKED\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc99 (@\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc99Cassandra VAXXED AND MASKED\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc99) 1642782369
Thank you. We\u2019ll be reading on Monday night about another mass shooting where everyone knew and no one intervened. I wouldn\u2019t have stood for this as a board member. Wtf is wrong here?? @FBI— Jane Allen \ud83d\udc89\ud83d\ude37\ud83c\udf0e\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@Jane Allen \ud83d\udc89\ud83d\ude37\ud83c\udf0e\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1642783518
Good. She deserves it. I bet she thinks she is a great parent and a good Christian standing up against a cloth mask. She is neither. Good parents and good Christians don\u2019t threaten to harm people with guns. Ever.— LifeofRiley (@LifeofRiley) 1642817850
They were so calm. It was clear that her identity as a white woman was providing cover. Has that been a Black man or woman, they would not have made it to their car before officers arrived on scene.— A Series of Letters (@A Series of Letters) 1642811860
There must have been a wall@of outrage in the phones at the Luray PD. Because that initial response was absurd! You can\u2019t just apologize away and deadly threat. That\u2019s not how orderly society works.— StillCovidFree (@StillCovidFree) 1642812627
How do I share a country with someone who is willing to shoot people trying to be safe by wearing masks. This country has gone mad.— laney mac (@laney mac) 1642815140
And now that kid has to go through life with everyone knowing his mom was arrested for threatening to bring loaded guns to school....all over a mask!— MerryO (@MerryO) 1642820257
The department added King—who has been "cooperative"—has since been released "on a $5,000.00 unsecured bond."
A $5,000 bond. Seriously? If she were Muslim or Black threatening to shoot up a school would not carry such a low bond.pic.twitter.com/Dar3odMhPF— KD (@KD) 1642812655
King later emailed the school board a statement of apology which was read during the meeting by school board member Amy Painter.
"I in no way meant to imply 'all guns loaded' as in actual firearms, but rather all resources I can muster to make sure that my children get to attend school without masks. My sincere apologies for my poor choice in words," wrote King.
So can people rob banks there and apologize and give the money back?? Crimes are not crimes if white and apologize? This lady should lose her right to possess firearms for a year and that should apply to anyone that lives with her.— Pancho (@Pancho) 1642813810
The Page County School Board voted 4-2 in favor of giving parents the mask-wearing option for their children.
Personally, I'm more disturbed that the outcome of that school board meeting was that they are NOT going to enforce a mask mandate. Because that means that there were at least 4 other people in the room that agreed with her...— Raven Dagher (@Raven Dagher) 1642816769
Youngkin said mask mandates in schools had proven “ineffective and impractical,” and parents should have the “ability to decide whether their child should wear masks for the duration of the school day.”
The constitutionality of Youngkin's order was targeted in a lawsuit filed on Monday by seven Virginia school districts.
The Falls Church board said in a released statement that the suit “defends the right of school boards to enact policy at the local level, including policies that protect the health and well-being of all students and staff.”
In addition to protecting students and staff from COVID-19, Prince William County School Board Chairman Babur Lateef said it was the system’s “highest priority to have students learning in-person” and it was important "that school boards retain their local decisional authority to take actions deemed necessary for the safety of their school community."
Youngkin defended his mask-optional directive, saying:
“We will continue to protect parents’ fundamental right to make decisions with regard to their child’s upbringing, education and care.”