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An anti-mask mom threatened to bring a loaded gun during a Virginia school board meeting, saying 'see you all on Monday'

Jan 22, 2022, 03:57 IST
Insider
A screengrab from Thursday's Page County Public Schools school board meeting when a parent threatened to bring guns over mask mandates.Page County Public Schools / YouTube
  • A Virginia parent protesting mask mandates at a school board meeting threatened to bring "every single gun, loaded."
  • "No mask mandates," the parent said at the Page County Public Schools board meeting on Thursday.
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A parent who opposed COVID-19 mask mandates for students threatened to bring "every single gun loaded" while speaking during a Virginia school board meeting — and now police are investigating the comments.

"No mask mandates," a woman identifying herself as Amelia King said during the Page County Public Schools board meeting in Luray, Va. on Thursday, which was livestreamed on YouTube. "My child, my children will not come to school on Monday with a mask on, alright, that's not happening."

"And I will bring every single gun loaded and ready to — I will call every," King continued before she was cut off by a school board member who told the parent that she had surpassed her allotted three minutes to speak.

Before walking out of the meeting room, King said, "I'll see you all on Monday."

King could not immediately be reached for comment by Insider.

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The Luray Police Department said in a statement Friday that King "immediately" called the department and apologized as her "statement was not intended the way it was perceived."

The department said that no arrests have been made as of Friday.

The school board's chair, Megan Gordon, and division superintendent Antonia Fox issued a joint statement Friday to Page County faculty, staff, and students notifying them about "comments made that referenced weapons and were perceived by many to be threatening in nature."

"Page County Public Schools does not take these kinds of statements lightly," Gordon and Fox said in the statement, which noted, "violence and threats are never acceptable or appropriate."

The statement added, "This kind of behavior ... [won't] be tolerated by parents or guests of our school division."

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Page County Sheriff Chad Cubbage told Insider that extra law enforcement staff were sent to "all county school buildings to increase the security of our schools" on Friday, and will also be posted at schools on Monday.

Page County schools currently require all students to wear face masks, but beginning Monday, the decision to have kids wear masks "will be parent choice," Gordon told Insider on Friday.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, issued an executive order on Saturday, his first day in office, rescinding a previous school mask mandate and allowing parents to decide whether their children wear masks in public schools, Insider previously reported.

Parents from Chesapeake, Virginia, filed a lawsuit against Youngkin this week over the executive order, arguing that it violates state law.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, filed a motion Thursday to dismiss the suit.

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