Despite the governor rescinding the mask mandate, the boy was harassed for not putting on his mask.
QUICK FACTS:
- A special education teacher at Colorado’s Lowry Elementary School was caught assaulting a student, Chase Chavez, for refusing to wear a mask at school after the governor rescinded the mask mandate for indoor venues.
- Chase’s dad, Anthony Chavez spoke to The Gateway Pundit about his son’s assault, saying that the interim assistant principal at first attempted to bribe the boy into compliance.
- When other avenues failed, special ed teacher Susan Rayburn grabbed the boy with his arms across his chest, effectively choking him, as she dragged him to the other side of the room.
- Surveillance footage backed up the student’s account of the event, showing that the teacher used a technique neurologists have called for police to stop using when restraining detainees.
MORE ON THE ATTACK:
- Following attempts to bribe Chase with chips, candy, and extra recess, his dad sent a letter to the school calling out their techniques. “Chase’s teacher began putting window screens around him and around his desk,” Chavez, a 42-year-old single father told TGP.
- “I instructed Chase to kindly put the windows next to the trash and not allow himself to be separated. They were attempting to have him sit six feet away from the other children while they were in their ‘numbers corner.’ They made him walk in front of the other kids as they walked through the halls to art class. I found out and I said, ‘That is not going to happen anymore and put a stop to it.’”
- “I sent them an email instructing them to stop going against my parental directive – my instructive was clear, ‘Do not try to incentivize or try to manipulate my son to wear a mask for any reason.’ But he continued to do it,” Chavez said.
- When other attempts didn’t cause Chase to put on his mask, Rayburn dragged him away to resolve the issue, holding him in a way that didn’t allow him to stand to relieve the pressure off his throat. “I couldn’t really breathe so I tried to stand up to have my neck breathe, but it was too hard,” the 7-year-old boy told his father following the incident. “I tried to stop her but I couldn’t.”
- Jillian Berkman, MD has warned police to stop using this technique, saying, “The whole importance of the blood flow itself is that the blood is what’s carrying the oxygen, so if you’re not getting blood up to the brain, you’re not getting oxygen to the brain. The end result could still be the same as when you’re choking someone. Both chokeholds and strangleholds have the potential to be deadly.”
BACKGROUND:
- Colorado has amended its recommendation from earlier in the pandemic, and masks are not required for residents anymore.
- Mandates have stayed in place in other states, with New York’s toddler mask mandate drawing criticism from parents who believe that asking children under 5-years-old to mask outdoors on the playground is excessive.
