WATCH: Man Handcuffed In Front Of His 6-Yr Old Daughter For Violating State ‘Social Distancing’ Order
A man was handcuffed in front of his 6-year old daughter for violating the “social distancing” order by the state–except it appears that he didn’t.
Matt Mooney, 33, from Brighton, Colorado, was out at an empty park playing tee ball with his 6-year old daughter and his wife on Sunday afternoon when he was approached by local police and told that he had violated the state’s social distancing guidelines.
A sign at Donelson Park read “Closed” but in smaller print said, “in groups of no more than 4 persons, parks remain open for walking, hiking, biking, running and similar activities.”
Believing that he wasn’t doing anything wrong, he refused to provide identification to the three police officers questioning him. Mooney was handcuffed in front of his family.
Mooney told the FOX31 Problem Solvers he refused to provide his identification to three police officers because he was confident he wasn’t doing anything unlawful by playing tee-ball with his wife and daughter at the park.
“She’s like, ‘Daddy, I don’t want you to get arrested.’ At this point I’m thinking, ‘There’s no way they’re going to arrest me, this is insane.’ I’m telling her, ‘Don’t worry, Daddy’s not going to get arrested. I’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t worry about it,’ and then they arrest me.”
Former Brighton City Councilman, Kirby Wallin, captured the incident on video and narrated what was happening.
Wallin said he couldn’t believe what he was seeing as he recorded.
Mooney says that it was the officers who were violating the social distancing directives.
“During the contact, none of the officers had masks on, none of them had gloves on, and they’re in my face handcuffing me, they’re touching me,” he said.
Mooney said he was released after spending about 10 minutes in the back of a patrol car but said he still deserved an apology.
“If we’re going to go ahead and start arresting people for no reason in front of their 6-year-old daughter, you’re just going to cause more problems later on,” he said.
Source: Fox 31 (KDVR)
So far, Brighton PD hasn’t apologized to Mooney but they did post a vague statement on their Facebook page which read, “The Brighton Police Department is conducting an investigation into a situation that occurred late this afternoon at Donelson Park. This is an active investigation and so we are unable to provide additional information until the investigation is complete.”
https://www.facebook.com/BrightonCOPD/posts/1561772567333571?__xts__[0]=68.ARCyIQumyJY-TmTdK058Ocq3GH8a2QINaaJvt4doD2-DeNfWIXEoqekoyQyAYEDdD3DZFBj3lp0wE_axuVek0bEBXm8UHw-4Cousv5PJiEQTDsTR0RELFtTdPX0m13FqzfULlf_iPvwLqzJOTX7yMGhT1R6XTbd-sLSu0cmE1bwazJ7bPiPw3670ATBTnBdr232j3QVgg2TAuxpwjnHiHYVgidP6sh6u4-ZzBG-0z8dhoHGEtu1D27v4CCEY0elXxDLFzfpRoViL2fIGn3zY_WwGzN1RT0o8qPNBeddWW5DVjJPvuT0r78Vm8veK8QvLJsfmkrSIE90R8zBka9cGhw&__tn__=-R
Un-freaking-believable.
