NH Coronavirus: Playground Parents Cough On Cops

CONCORD, NH — The sight of quarantine-defying parents coughing at a pair of Concord police officers in a city park has triggered calls for the resignation of a newly elected member of the Weare School Board.

Board member Rochelle Kelley herself posted cellphone video of the incident on her Facebook page on April 23, sparking outrage at the flouting of the state's stay-at-home order.

The clip showed parents and several children confronting two officers at a playground in Rollins Park in Concord. Kelley defended herself in a later Facebook message, saying she and her family don't have to take precautions meant to prevent the spread of the infection because "we already had covid-19 and have the antibodies against it."

Antibody testing has only just become available across the United State and New Hampshire, and there is ongoing debate, and no small amount of doubt, whether the presence of COVID-19 antibodies in the bloodstream confers immunity. Last week, the World Health Organization said there is "no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection."

Kelley did not respond to several messages sent to her school board email address.

Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood on Friday confirmed that the screenshot of the Facebook message claiming immunity from the disease is in fact from Kelley's account. Osgood said he had not seen the message until being contacted by a Patch reporter.

"We're going to look at some of the behavior they engaged in," Osgood said, adding that no criminal charges have yet been sought. "We have a lot of other things going on."

Kelley eventually deleted the video — and her Facebook account — but not before defending her actions in comments and messages that were copied and widely shared. The 11-minute video (posted below) showed several adults berating two police officers responding to a complaint about kids on the playground.

The playground is circled with yellow caution tape and marked with "closed" signs, citing New Hampshire's stay-at-home order. In the video, several people called the officers "Nazis." One man is heard comparing the enforcement of the coronavirus orders to "picking up Jews and putting them in cars."

The video shows parents coughing at Officers Stephen Carter and Paige Salmon. Both officers were wearing masks during the exchange.

One week after the video went up, an online petition was posted criticizing Kelley and noting her position on the Weare School Board. To date, more than 4,000 have signed the petition, which states that "we the undersigned have lost faith in her ability to objectively, civilly, and maturely advocate for the children of Weare and its taxpayers. "

In a statement, School Board Chair Wendy Curry said the board is powerless to remove individual members, though those members may resign.

The statement continues, "Ms. Kelley's actions did not involve district or school board business, although the actions do impact the district's and board's image, which is unfortunate."

This isn't the first case where Concord police have confronted residents flouting the stay-at-home order, but such behavior "is not prevalent," Osgood said.

"Certainly, the behavior by the adults at Rollins Park is alarming," he said. "The city has the authority to say this is closed for a specific reason, and that's not a violation of your constitutional rights. That's to protect you."