Conflict broke out at an Arizona elementary school on Thursday when a child was asked to quarantine after reportedly coming into contact with an individual who tested positive for COVID-19.
Over an Instagram livestream, local business owner Kelly John Walker reportedly protested the school’s request and threatened to detain Mesquite Elementary School principal Diane Vargo. Zip ties, similar to those brought by Jan. 6 rioters into the halls of Congress, could be seen in the video.
According to officials with the Vail Unified School District just outside Tucson, a group including Walker, a parent of the child in question and a third community member confronted Vargo over the quarantine request. Walker livestreamed the incident over the Instagram account affiliated with his Tucson cafe, Viva Coffee House.
Officials with VUSD said the request to quarantine the child was in line with state policy, which requires schools to report positive diagnoses of COVID-19 among students and staff to the county health department. The county health department then renders a decision as to whether a quarantine will be ordered.
While holding the zip ties up to the camera, Walker said he intended to make a citizen’s arrest of Vargo if police did not intervene on the group’s behalf.
Immediately after threatening a citizen’s arrest, Walker said school officials could not “take the law into their own hands” by requesting quarantines of children exposed to COVID-19.
School officials said the group entered Vargo’s office and the principal attempted to facilitate a conversation and listen to their concerns. Vargo eventually asked them to leave school grounds, but the group refused.
Walker told Vargo he was “a scientist” who has written about COVID-19 “for doctors and dentists all over the country.” According to Walker’s LinkedIn page, he holds a master’s degree in environmental science from New Mexico State University but has primarily worked in marketing and has never engaged in clinical study of any kind.
Vargo was able to leave her office without being physically harmed in the confrontation. The group reportedly left the school after law enforcement was called to the scene.
Tucson’s KVOA reported that as of Friday, at least one person has been arrested in connection with the incident. Forty-year-old Rishi Rambaran was arrested on suspicion of trespassing on school grounds. He has since received a citation and been released.
Tucson police have not yet indicated whether Kelly or the third individual allegedly involved will be charged.
The Instagram page for Viva Coffee House appears to function more as an outlet for Kelly’s political views than a marketing platform for the business. In posts published in response to Thursday’s incident, Kelly indicated that the group’s actions were supported by Arizona state law, specifically Arizona Revised Statute 1-602, the “Parents’ Bill of Rights.”
The statute generally empowers parents to have unencumbered discretion over the education, upbringing and overall welfare of their children. But the text explicitly does not authorize “conduct that is unlawful” in a parent’s pursuit of his or her rights under the law—such as attempted unlawful imprisonment, a Class 6 felony under Arizona’s criminal code.
John Carruth, superintendent of Vail schools, said the district had not yet decided whether it would press further charges against the group.
