December, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Strasburg, Virginia.
Fast forward to yesterday, June 11, 2013:
Christopher Gerrit Johnson found his plans to vote in Tuesday’s primary temporarily stymied at the Strasburg Police Department before authorities agreed he had a right to cast his ballot and allowed him to do so.
Johnson’s initial trouble in voting at Strasburg High School, his designated polling place, stemmed from a “no trespassing” order banning him from Shenandoah County Public Schools property. The order was issued after an incident in mid-December when Johnson entered Sandy Hook Elementary School with a board bearing the words “high powered rifle.”
He walked into the central office where, after speaking with school officials, deputies arrested him and charged him with disorderly conduct. A bench trial in Shenandoah County General District Court is scheduled for Aug. 16.
Strasburg Police Chief Tim Sutherly said Johnson entered the police station about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday asking if he could vote at Strasburg High School, with a police escort if deemed necessary. Sutherly said a part-time officer at the department looked up the “no trespassing” order and denied Johnson permission to go on school property.
A flurry of phone calls ensued among police supervisors, Johnson’s lawyer, David Silek, Shenandoah County School Superintendent B. Keith Rowland and Lisa P. McDonald, the county’s voter registrar. Sutherly said police then agreed Johnson could go to the high school and vote.
“We had an officer in the area, but we did not escort him, and he left without incident,” Sutherly said of Johnson’s appearance at the polling place.
Johnson and Silek remained irate at the police afterward in separate interviews.
This bad ass should not have been allowed on school property. No exceptions. He should have thought of his misdeeds and voted absentee. It’s unclear what point he was trying to make. His behavior seems unstable to me. Guns at school are a bad point to be trying to make, especially in light of the tragic mass murders of school age children in Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.
I have no sympathy at all for this guy. He lost his voting rights, in my opinion, if he did not make arrangements to vote absentee or at a central location not located on school property. Meanwhile, his lawyer is whining about his rights. Screw his rights. School safety is far more important than his silly “rights.” He brought it all on himself. In fact, I think his behavior should have been deemed an act of terrorism. His intent was to terrorize.
No tresspassing means no tresspassing. There should be no exceptions made unless in a court of law before a judge. This guy should not even be sold a gun. His story screams ‘background check’ if you ask me!
He’s needs the book thrown at him by the Judge. He could have voted absentee, or gone to any of the other dozen or so Polling places in Shenandoah County since they have a centralized County Registrar. I don’t see one single violation of is right to vote.
He has not been convicted – he has a right to vote. He carried a 2×4 into the school to demonstrate that there was no security measures to prevent another tragedy. He even went to the police station before going to the school – to avoid the confrontation. Even after conviction, he will probably get his voting rights back.
How do we know he hasn’t been convicted? That video was from December. Surely the case has gone to court by now.
You also don’t need to convict anyone of anything for a school to issue a no tresspass. Its done all the time to people who don’t know how to behave on school property.
He could have voted at the central voting registrar or absentee, as Ray suggested.
Don’t most schools that have polling places in the gym or cafeteria close when there is an election? If so, it seems like it shouldn’t a problem for the guy to show up and vote. The no trespass order was to protect kids and teachers from his assault lumber. If the kids and teachers aren’t at the school when the building is being used for the election, what’s the harm?
To be honest, I’m not sure the no trespass order is needed in the first place. The guy is a jerk, but being a jerk isn’t (and shouldn’t be) illegal.
Teachers, staff, kids, etc…not just the teachers and kids. The secretaries and custodians don’t want to get shot and killed either. Schools in Prince William weren’t closed. Not sure about Strasburg. No tresspassing means no tresspassing. The schools don’t want to have to deal with his sorry ass. There can be a no tresspass for many different reasons. Why is this person so special that he can’t follow the rules? What about any other person who gets ‘posted’ by the school system? This isn’t an isolated event. Plan ahead. If ou are a toad and get posted by the school system, plan to vote absentee. It isn’t like there aren’t other provisions. You can usually vote at the registrars office until a day or two before. He knew. He was making a point…again.
In fairness to the guy who I said was a jerk, he did offer to have a policeman escort him when he went to vote. That’s a pretty reasonable offer considering that he never actually did anything that threatened anybody.
If there was any realistic chance of danger to the people at the school, I would agree with you 100%. But while the guy is a jerk, it seems pretty clear he’s not an actual threat to anybody. (If he were an actual threat, he would have done something more dangerous like bring an unload weapon to the school or show up unannounced.) He’s clearly trying to make a political point, but the 1st amendment covers pretty wide ground. (I’m not saying he is guilty or not for his original ‘assault board’ visit. I’ll let the court decide that, but you can make a decent argument either way.)
All he was doing this time was going to vote. He has the right to do that at least until he is convicted of something. He didn’t bring anything with him this time and gave the police the chance to escort him to ensure there was no risk. At the end of the day, nobody was at any risk. You could even argue that the guy has learned to behave more appropriately since his first visit to the school. I just don’t see where the harm is.
He should apply to have the no trespassing removed. I think those things are served through the magistrates office. Why couldn’t he go vote a day or two early at the registrar’s office? That’s what I would do if I had a no trespass posted on me. He could have also voted by mail.
What jerk would take a board in a school like that anyway, especially one named Sandy Hook? Is he nuts? He also got stopped fairly quickly on that day.
I take school security seriously and that includes the no tresspass orders that are issued. In December he carried a board with writing on it. (does this scream NUT job to anyone else?) what will he carry into a building in September?
Schools really shouldn’t have to access someone’s mental condition or what they are likely to do. If someone does something that is not in the best interest of the school, its staff, its students, then they have an obligation to post them and keep them off the property.
There’s also curbside voting – ask an election official to come outside the polling place with a form and a paper ballot. Rare, but it’s done for the disabled and elderly if they request it. Sounds like he wanted to make another scene.
I agree Cindy. The cops escorting him could have gone in and asked a poll worker to come out.
It does sound like he intentioanlly wanted to make another scene. The Sandy Hook thing was just horrible taste. That really is almost an act of terrorism.
He was making a point – and a very valid point – although he is an idiot – that our schools are unprotected, and that anyone can walk into any school with a weapon. He happened to be carrying a wooden 2×4 – no bullets, no rifle, no gun – far from a terrorist. If he wanted to create a scene – he would have gone to the polling place with camera’s rolling instead of the Police Station first.
What happened to the 6th Amendment in all of this?
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.”
While I agree that what he did was ridiculous, his point was well made. He also went to the police to check about being able to go and vote.
What seems to be being said here is, “Bring the guilty bastard in and we’ll give him a fair trial then hang him.”
He doesn’t have to go to trial to have a no trespass issued on him. George, you can send me a no trespass on your property. I can’t do Jack about it. Its your property. This really has nothing to do with his arrest over the matter.
The local school system has every right to tell him they don’t want him back on school property. Do we really want to take a risk with staff and students?
The man has othre alternatives. He should have thought about it before he made an AH of himself.
Ray is right. A No Trespass order has effect if there are continual exceptions.
I agree with Moon on the order….if a valid, court-issued No Trespassing Order exists, then what is the use of having it in place?
@Moon-howler
I’m not arguing about the Do No Trespass order, what I’m saying is that the general tenor of this discussion is that this guy is a mentally ill sicko who is bent on shooting up the school. As I said, “Bring the guilty bastard in and we’ll give him a fair trial and then hang him!”
@Pat.Herve
Why do you think he was making a point? Most schools have an open front door and he was stopped fairly quickly by school personnel.
@George,
No one is saying that he is hell bent on shooting up a school. I am saying he seems mentally ill to do something so stupid. I think we have to always be on guard for some sicko shooting up a school, I am sorry to say.
I just don’t think an exception should be made. If there is a no trespass on a person then there is one for a reason. There should not be exceptions.