Anti-mask protesters film students at this Fresno school. ‘It’s concerning,’ police say
Students at Fresno’s Dailey Elementary Charter School will eat lunch indoors for at least the rest of the week after anti-mask protesters took photographs and video of students and shouted at staff members over the state’s coronavirus safety measures.
The Bee obtained a message that the school’s Executive Director Jeanne Pentorali sent to parents late Wednesday.
Pentorali told parents that a group of about 10 protesters “that are not Dailey parents” took the photos and shouted at staff while standing outside the school’s fence at the corner of Thorne and Shields avenues for more than two hours.
“Our team asked them several times to cease taking pictures and videos and shouting at staff and students on campus,” Pentorali said in the message to parents.
Police were called “immediately,” as well as the school’s safety officer, who evacuated students from the blacktop to the cafeteria.
In a statement to The Bee on Thursday, Fresno Unified Superintendent Bob Nelson asked protesters to stop photographing and shooting video of students.
“While we recognize the first amendment rights of free speech and peaceful protest, as the authorizer of Dailey Charter School, Fresno Unified asks the public to refrain from photographing students while on campus,” Nelson said in the statement. “We ask that the public be considerate of the moral and ethical obligation schools undertake every day to protect our students’ privacy.”
Fresno police Chief Paco Balderrama said his officers are working with district officials to determine whether laws were broken.
“Police did respond to the scene (Wednesday) and determined that the protesters were in a public space but near a school, which caused some concerns,” Balderrama said. “It’s concerning to me obviously anytime you have children involved.”
School officials confirmed that the protest lasted for two hours and that for the remainder of the week, the school will increase patrol and security of the perimeters, as well as move school meals in the cafeteria in the event that the protesters return.
“All gates will be locked after 7:55 am for the remainder of the week,” said Pentorali.
California’s mask mandate is scheduled to be lifted after March 11.
Video footage of the incident circulating online shows students social-distancing while eating their lunches outside on the blacktop. In the video, students can be seen— both with and without masks on— chattering and eating under the sunshine.
A female protester can be heard yelling and questioning a school staffer who was on the blacktop pushing a garbage can and collecting trash from the students.
The protester asked why the school “make(s) kids eat like this,” to which the school staffer said that the kids are sitting six feet apart and eating outside to enjoy the sunshine.
With the camera focused on a masked male student sitting closest to the fence, the protester proceeded to make comments related to the COVID-19 protocols.
The protester can be heard saying things like “you’re treating them like inmates,” “this is ridiculous, these are children,” and “this is some kind of dystopian nightmare,” and “my god, you should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“Obviously, people are able to take pictures and walk around a public space,” said Balderrama.
The question is whether protesters can take pictures of children while they are on school grounds, he said.
“At the same time, I have to balance that situation with an individual’s rights to assemble and freedom of speech,” he said.
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 11:32 AM.
