Three men involved in an altercation with faculty at an Arizona elementary school last week have been arrested and charged with misdemeanor trespassing, Tucson police said Tuesday.
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Mark Tainatongo, 58, Kelly Walker, 51, and Rishi Rambaran, 40, reportedly accosted Mesquite Elementary School principal Diane Vargo and her assistant after administrators requested that Rambaran’s son be quarantined following exposure to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Walker, a local business owner and right-wing activist who does not have children enrolled at the school, livestreamed the confrontation on an Instagram page for his coffee shop. In the since-deleted video, the men can be seen carrying zip ties and heard threatening the school official with a citizen’s arrest.
“Law enforcement zip ties,” Walker said on video, brandishing a handful of what appeared to be black plastic or nylon zip ties in front of the camera while searching for a way into the school. “Okay, where is the office?” he can be heard saying.
In an Instagram post, Walker said he was prepared to “go to jail” for his conduct at the school.
Vargo said Rambaran’s son was present when the group barged into her office and started threatening her.
“His father wanted him here," she said. "He sat right next to him, and he witnessed all of it. He saw the threats. He saw the aggressiveness. He saw the large zip ties. He saw it all and I felt really, really bad for him.”
Vargo said she repeatedly asked the men to leave, but they refused. They only vacated the premises once law enforcement were called to the scene.
All three men have been booked on charges of third-degree criminal trespass. Rambaran was arrested a few hours after the confrontation last Thursday; Walker and Tainatongo were both arrested Monday. If convicted, they could face up to a month behind bars.
According to Phoenix’s ABC12 News, both Vargo and her assistant are seeking restraining orders against the trio. Vargo said she is also pursuing criminal charges relating to their alleged threats and harassment against her personally.
This is not 2021’s first instance of conflict between parents and faculty around school COVID-19 policies. Last month, a father reportedly struck a teacher in the face outside Sutter Creek Elementary School in Northern California after his daughter was asked to wear a mask in class.
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