Meet The Mom Being Politically Persecuted For Protesting Massachusetts’ Tyrannical Covid Mandates
Less than four years have passed since U.S. politicians, bureaucrats, and businesses launched what would become the greatest assault on Americans’ individual rights in the modern era. In the name of “Covid” and “public safety,” these entities initiated sprawling lockdowns and mandated their citizens be masked and jabbed in order to participate in daily life.
Moms like Sara Brady were arrested and charged for letting their children play on outdoor playgrounds. An outdoorsman was arrested for paddleboarding alone in the ocean. Millions of workers were forced to get an experimental mRNA injection or face possible unemployment.
The list of Covid horror stories goes on and on.
With many governments and private entities having since dropped their unscientific restrictions, most Americans would like to believe the era of Covid authoritarianism is over — that could not be further from the truth. Case in point: Michelle Efendi, a mother of four young children who’s being egregiously prosecuted by the Massachusetts legal system for protesting the state’s overreaching Covid mandates.
The Situation
The incident in question occurred on March 1, 2022, when Efendi and several other protestors went to the Massachusetts State House to meet with legislators regarding Boston’s Covid mandates. On Dec. 20, 2021, Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu — who recently held a racial minorities-only Christmas party — launched the “B Together” initiative, which required “patrons and employees ages 12 and up” to receive the Covid shot in order to enter various indoor facilities. The mandate was ultimately revoked on Feb. 18, 2022, but the city continued to require indoor masking “for most spaces” until March 5, 2022.
Efendi is no stranger to grassroots activism. The former Massachusetts and now-Florida resident is a longtime community organizer with experience in emergency management. In the weeks leading up to the March 1, 2022, protest, Efendi challenged local Covid mandates by entering public facilities requiring masks or vaccine passports, such as museums and libraries, sometimes with her children. She furthermore partook in a July 2022 demonstration against the Acton, Massachusetts Discovery Museum’s distribution of Covid vaccines to children, in which she and other protestors were purportedly assaulted by a man who previously espoused anti-Republican views.
It’s worth mentioning that Efendi does not classify herself as a Republican and has previously campaigned for Democrat presidential candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Upon arriving at the outdoor entrance to the Massachusetts State House, Efendi and her fellow protestors were stopped by building security, who said that they would need to show proof of Covid vaccination or a negative Covid test in order to enter the facility. The Massachusetts State House — which had been open to the public less than two weeks at the time of the March 1, 2022, protest due to Covid — mandated individuals show proof of Covid vaccination or a negative Covid test, and wear a facemask to access the building.
Video footage reviewed by The Federalist shows the demonstrators — including Efendi — peacefully requesting they be allowed to enter the People’s House to speak with their representatives and exercise their First Amendment rights. They also repeatedly asked to speak with the present officers’ supervisor to further inquire about the policy. The officers seemingly denied the requests and told protestors they couldn’t enter the building without adhering to the Covid rules.
After roughly 10 minutes of speaking with House security, footage of the incident appears to show Efendi slowly walking through the entrance with her hands at her waist, at which point she is grabbed by two officers and wrestled to the ground before being handcuffed. Another protestor was also detained for similar actions, although footage shows he was handcuffed while standing up.
While speaking with The Federalist, Efendi noted how she repeatedly expressed concerns about Boston’s overreaching Covid mandates to her congressional representative, Democrat Ayanna Pressley, but never received a response. She further highlighted how these restrictions effectively curtailed citizens’ ability to participate in government and express grievances to their elected representatives about these same policies.
“I can’t testify to my government. I can’t go and participate [for] the reason I want to be there,” Efendi said.
Despite the State House dropping its Covid mandates several days after the March 1, 2022, protest, the office of Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden, a Democrat, moved ahead with prosecuting Efendi on three charges: assault, trespassing, and disorderly conduct. If convicted, she could face up to six months in jail.
A Rigged System
The political deck was stacked against Efendi well before her March 2022 protest.
On Feb. 1, 2022, Pressley issued a joint statement alongside Hayden and Boston’s other “elected officials of color” in defense of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who issued a series of tweets attacking the Covid-19 Rights Movement — of which Efendi is a member — for protesting the city’s Covid mandates outside of her home several weeks prior. In her remarks, Wu accused protestors of “normalizing hate” and claimed the incident is a “daily reminder of how we need strong policy to address deeply-rooted misinformation & fear-mongering.”
Efendi was one of several individuals named on an “enemies list” compiled and submitted by Wu to the Boston Police Department for investigation and possible action in June 2022.
In their February statement, Hayden and Boston’s politicians “of color” accused Efendi and those protesting the city’s overreaching Covid restrictions of perpetuating “racism” and “misogyny.” “From the halls of Congress, to the steps of the State House, to the chamber of Boston City Hall, we must be unapologetic in rooting out white supremacy, racism, misogyny and hate in all of its forms,” the hyperbolic statement reads.
Hayden didn’t just demonstrate his left-wing bias via public statements, however. The Democrat DA also appears to have a history of dropping charges filed against disorderly leftist demonstrators.
According to an interim summary filed by Efendi’s legal team, as of Jan. 1, there have been 114 arrests in Suffolk County “arising out of protest activity concerning race issues, climate change, LGBTQ matters,” and the so-called “Palestine conflict.” Among the 41 of these arrests involving felony charges, prosecutors dismissed all but seven. Meanwhile, the remaining 73 arrests “involved misdemeanors and all resulted in dismissals,” with 32 of these dismissals coming “prior to arraignment.”
Only two of the 114 arrests, or 1.75 percent, have resulted in convictions, according to the court filing.
Impartial Justice
Efendi has also been forced to deal with an antagonistic judge tasked with overseeing her trial.
On Aug. 16, 2022, Efendi’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss the charges, arguing the case against her “lacks probable cause, that the integrity of her probable cause hearing had been violated by falsified evidence, and that her arrest and prosecution are based on impermissible classifications, as well as in retaliation for her exercise of protected speech.”
While Hayden’s office expressed willingness to drop the charges for disorderly conduct and trespassing during a Sept. 26, 2022 hearing on the motion, Boston Municipal Court Judge Steven Key wouldn’t allow it. In refusing to dismiss the two charges at the prosecution’s request, Key — appointed by former GOP Gov. Charlie Baker — claimed there was “probable cause to believe” that Efendi committed the aforementioned offenses.
Key also dismissed Efendi’s team’s request to file a motion for discovery that same day.
It Gets Worse
As if the prospect of being put behind bars by a corrupt legal system isn’t horrid enough, Efendi is also facing threats to have the state take her children away.
In the days following her March 2022 arrest, anonymous reports were filed with the Massachusetts Department of Children & Families (DCF) notifying the agency of Efendi’s detainment and alleging that she was neglecting her responsibilities as a mother. Efendi claimed neighbors and distant relatives filed these reports.
One such report alleged that Efendi’s protesting of Covid restrictions was a sign she was “unraveling” and expressed concern “for the well-being of the children.” Another anonymous individual who once purportedly knew Efendi said they were “concerned there is no one watching the children” but admitted later in the report they have “no information” regarding the whereabouts of Efendi’s husband.
“My life has been turned upside down,” Efendi said. “And my husband moved us across the country because of a legitimate fear that our children would be taken away from us by the state.”
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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