Posted on Sep 7, 2021
Cops Charge Zip-Tie Guys Who Ambushed School Principal Over COVID Rules
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All three members of an Arizona trio who barged into an elementary school principal’s office with zip ties and threatened to place her under citizens’ arrest for following public health guidelines have instead been arrested themselves, the Tucson Police Department confirmed.
“58-year-old Frank Tainatongo was cited and released for misdemeanor trespassing yesterday,” Tucson PD spokesman Sgt. Richard Gradillas told The Daily Beast. “He would be the third person cited and released related to this incident.”
Last week, Tainatongo accompanied marketing strategist and coffee shop owner Kelly Walker, 51, and Rishi Rambaran, 40, as Rambaran accosted Principal Diane Vargo while she sat with another educator at Tucson’s Mesquite Elementary School. Rambaran's son had been told by the school to mask up and quarantine after reportedly being exposed to someone with COVID-19. Walker livestreamed the confrontation on his shop’s Instagram. In the footage, Tainatongo, who remained unidentified until today, could be seen standing in the doorway holding multiple pairs of “law enforcement-grade” zip ties. The video has since been deleted.
“When this kind of coercion and bullying is perpetrated by school administrators, breaking the law, a citizen’s arrest is an option worth looking into,” Walker wrote on Facebook last Thursday.
Three Schools Forced Into Lockdown After Anti-Masker Proud Boys Try to Infiltrate
On Monday, Tainatongo was booked on a charge of third-degree criminal trespass, the same charge leveled at Walker and Rambaran. If convicted, all three face up to 30 days in jail. Gradillas said citizens’ arrests are extremely rare, and that he has never seen one carried out in his 14 years on the job.
Tainatongo’s LinkedIn profile says he works as a production manager for the Rincon Research Corporation, a government contractor that develops software for the U.S. military, NASA, and the intelligence community.
“58-year-old Frank Tainatongo was cited and released for misdemeanor trespassing yesterday,” Tucson PD spokesman Sgt. Richard Gradillas told The Daily Beast. “He would be the third person cited and released related to this incident.”
Last week, Tainatongo accompanied marketing strategist and coffee shop owner Kelly Walker, 51, and Rishi Rambaran, 40, as Rambaran accosted Principal Diane Vargo while she sat with another educator at Tucson’s Mesquite Elementary School. Rambaran's son had been told by the school to mask up and quarantine after reportedly being exposed to someone with COVID-19. Walker livestreamed the confrontation on his shop’s Instagram. In the footage, Tainatongo, who remained unidentified until today, could be seen standing in the doorway holding multiple pairs of “law enforcement-grade” zip ties. The video has since been deleted.
“When this kind of coercion and bullying is perpetrated by school administrators, breaking the law, a citizen’s arrest is an option worth looking into,” Walker wrote on Facebook last Thursday.
Three Schools Forced Into Lockdown After Anti-Masker Proud Boys Try to Infiltrate
On Monday, Tainatongo was booked on a charge of third-degree criminal trespass, the same charge leveled at Walker and Rambaran. If convicted, all three face up to 30 days in jail. Gradillas said citizens’ arrests are extremely rare, and that he has never seen one carried out in his 14 years on the job.
Tainatongo’s LinkedIn profile says he works as a production manager for the Rincon Research Corporation, a government contractor that develops software for the U.S. military, NASA, and the intelligence community.
Cops Charge Zip-Tie Guys Who Ambushed School Principal Over COVID Rules
Posted from news.yahoo.com
Tucson
Police
Law Enforcement
Crime
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Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Why aren't their School doors locked. All our schools are locked & you don't get in unless you were called there to pick up your Grandson... or grandaughter... or your child... anyhow I think you get my message...(LOL).
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Patricia Overmeyer
SGT (Anonymous): I live in the Tucson area and all of the school are locked. You don't get in unless you are a parent, student, teacher, school staff or have been invited as a speaker, etc. This incident has been on our local news for the past several days.
The father showed up at the school with his son (the child who had been ordered to quarantine), therefore the school allowed them to enter since the child attends that school and the parent wished to discuss the situation with the principal. The other two men came in with the father and son as the father claimed they were related. It wasn't until the confrontation began that the principal figured out the other two were not related and had no children in her school. The father was upset because his son was going to miss a school field trip because the son had been ordered to quarantine after contact with a person who has COVID. This was just another attempt to bully schools into allowing potentially infected children into school. Interestingly, all three were more than happy to crow about what they did to the local news stations....until they were busted. It's my understanding that the charges are being reviewed by the city and county attorney's offices for potentially more serious charges.
https://kvoa.com/news/top-stories/2021/09/06/2nd-arrest-made-in-clash-where-group-threatened-to-zip-tie-vail-elementary-principal-over-covid-19-protocols/
The father showed up at the school with his son (the child who had been ordered to quarantine), therefore the school allowed them to enter since the child attends that school and the parent wished to discuss the situation with the principal. The other two men came in with the father and son as the father claimed they were related. It wasn't until the confrontation began that the principal figured out the other two were not related and had no children in her school. The father was upset because his son was going to miss a school field trip because the son had been ordered to quarantine after contact with a person who has COVID. This was just another attempt to bully schools into allowing potentially infected children into school. Interestingly, all three were more than happy to crow about what they did to the local news stations....until they were busted. It's my understanding that the charges are being reviewed by the city and county attorney's offices for potentially more serious charges.
https://kvoa.com/news/top-stories/2021/09/06/2nd-arrest-made-in-clash-where-group-threatened-to-zip-tie-vail-elementary-principal-over-covid-19-protocols/
2nd arrest made in clash where group threatened to zip-tie Vail elementary principal over...
On Monday, Tucson Police Department shared that 51-year-old Kelly Walker was charged and released on a misdemeanor trespassing charge after he and two other men reportedly showed up at Mesquite Elementary School to reportedly zip-tie the school's principal, Diane Vargo after one of the men's children was told to quarantine after the child was exposed to COVID-19.
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