Arizona father and businessman Kelly Walker seeking to raise $5,000 for his legal defense ahead of his second and final appearance in court on Wednesday over misdemeanor charges stemming from his visit to a school that allegedly forced a child to wear a face mask retrieved from a trashcan.
Walker, the host of Freedom Talk and proprietor of Viva Coffee House, an Arizona business he says was persecuted for opposing COVID-19 lockdown policies, is due in court this week over accusations that he trespassed at Mesquite Elementary School in Tuscon.
The case stems from an incident that took place when Walker and another man were invited to the school by a father of a student who made disturbing claims about the school’s administration.
That man relayed that school principal allegedly forced his son to wear a soiled face mask taken out of a trashcan, apparently as a form of punishment for disobeying the school’s face mask policy, after the boy threw the garment away.
According to Walker, media portrayals of the event falsely claimed that he and a group of men went to the school to forcibly zip tie the principal. He rebutted this claim in a video posted to Spreely.video:
While Walker peacefully left the school on his own volition, he divulged in a press release that five police officers visited his home three days after the incident to cite him for “misdemeanor 3” trespassing, which Walker likened to being “just above a parking ticket” in terms of legal severity.
“One of the police officers has since admitted to my lawyer that this is all politically motivated,” said Walker, underscoring what he believes to be the political nature of the case.
“Several district employees and administrators have also reached out, saying they could lose their jobs if they expressed their opposition to policies they saw as detrimental to kids.”
Walker is now seeking $5,000 for his legal defense using the Christian fundraising service, GiveSendGo.
That fundraiser explains that Walker “has abundant evidence and a good lawyer and expects a full exoneration,” but “needs assistance with legal fees” to beat the case.
Walker says that, due to media and Democratic Party portrayals of his actions, his family and business have been the recipients of death threats, and provided a photograph showing two letters as evidence.
After these legal proceedings are complete, Walker says he intends to pursue his own lawsuit aimed at local government.
Walker gained worldwide attention in 2020 as the owner of his coffee house for opposing lock COVID-19 policies and lockdowns.
His most viral moment was likely when he was arrested at a local government meeting and told the arresting officers, “I’m not resisting, I’m just strong.”