Masked, Shackled, and Cuffed: Why a Former Liberal Fled Massachusetts

Dear DailyClout,

I am a homeschooling mother of four, including an infant. I was slammed to the ground and arrested on March 1, 2022, because I tried to peaceably enter the Massachusetts State House in Boston without a vaccine passport. Nearly two years later, the Commonwealth refuses to drop the charges. If found guilty, the country’s “Cradle of Liberty” could imprison me for up to 6 months.

The official charges against me are disorderly conduct, trespassing, and assault on a court officer, a man I simply walked past; watch the video and judge for yourself. I’m experiencing the two-tiered justice system firsthand. While my motions and access to evidence are denied, many climate protestors who disrupted proceedings inside the State House wearing just thong underwear had their charges dismissed.

Below is a statistical analysis my legal team has put together showing that Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden is selectively prosecuting vax protesters (myself included) and not any other type of protester. Almost every protester since George Floyd has been dismissed EXCEPT vax protesters.

The Road to Rebellion

Like many of you, the COVID response dramatically changed my views. I was always a typical Massachusetts liberal. I feared COVID; in 2020, I contacted my town officials and said they weren’t strong enough on their COVID response! As a community organizer and trained volunteer emergency manager, I was directly involved in leading local, national, and international COVID efforts that included coordination with FEMA, the World Health Organization, CDC, and Facebook. 

But by 2021, I despised face masks and feared looming vaccine mandates. The coerced vaccination was a red flag for me. I was forced to give birth in a mask and was terrified my husband would be force-vaccinated to keep his job. I realized the real threat wasn’t COVID, but the government. When Michelle Wu, the Mayor of Boston, announced her vaccine passport system in late December 2021, I began to peacefully protest. 

I quickly learned that only a few people can make a difference, given the insane levels of persecution waged against a tiny band of peaceful protestors, including myself.

You might have heard about Mayor Wu’s “enemy list” that made international news. I’m one of the named enemies on that list. My name sits along with other moms, fired healthcare workers, and immigrants who peacefully protested her vaccine and mask mandates in front of her house and elsewhere.

This homeschooling mom also attracted the attention of District Attorney Kevin Hayden. In 2022, DA Hayden signed a press release that claimed that anti-Wu/COVID protesters were violent white supremacists and called for an immediate end to the protests. This was also signed by my former Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, the Sheriff, and other powerful officials. 

My transformation was complete. I went from someone who had never voted Republican and thought it was cool that Squad member Ayanna Pressley was my representative to being persecuted by the party of “equity” and “inclusion” while being called a right-wing fascist.

The Boston Library Adventure

During the COVID restrictions, I decided to live normally and take my family to segregated or restricted places—modern sit-ins, if you will. I was turned away from place after place, including the USS Constitution Museum, for not muzzling up or flashing my vax card.

One incident at the Boston Public Library was particularly trying. A small group of families with kids decided to meet in the children’s rooms and read books—unmasked. Shocking, I know. 

The library got wind of it and there was a police car stationed outside. As we entered, we were immediately accosted by a security guard telling us to mask. The police were immediately called in. Amazingly, they didn’t kick us out of the library, but the librarians sure got their revenge.

They cried “harassment” and held a rally to protest the horror of what we had done. They also darkly hinted that our group—which had people of many races—was tied to white supremacy and had possibly doused a Maya Angelou statue at the library with gasoline. 

After an extensive public records search, I finally discovered that the police, city, and library staff knew that it was another patron who had vandalized the statue. 

Blue States Blues

Back to the State House arrest. I was charged with assaulting a court officer I merely walked past, plus disorderly conduct and trespassing.

At the courthouse, I was surrounded by court officers and the appointed lawyer. They demanded I put on a mask to enter the courtroom. I was shackled at the ankles and cuffed. They towered over me and repeated if I did not put on the mask, I would be jailed overnight. They insisted: “Put it on and go home to your kids.” I finally put on the face mask. When I went into the courtroom, THE JUDGE WASN’T WEARING A MASK!

After years of persecution and adversity, this incident was the tipping point. In addition to the harassment I faced from the judicial system, my estranged family petitioned for guardianship of my children. They brought up at the guardianship hearing I had been “harassing librarians” as a reason for my children to be removed from my care.

My husband sought a job transfer and moved us to Florida because we genuinely feared that Massachusetts would take our children. 

The Pilgrims came to America for religious freedom. 402 years after they touched Plymouth Rock, I was denied a religious exemption and had to make my own pilgrimage out of Massachusetts. Each day, it feels more possible that I’ll go to prison, considering the J6ers. I homeschool four kids, two are babies.

Being unvaccinated is not a crime. Please donate to my legal defense so I can get charges dismissed, pay for public records fees to uncover evidence against me, cover travel expenses to and from Florida for court hearings, and have my name cleared so I can pass background checks.

Please help me shine a light on this. Being unvaxxed should NOT be a crime.

Please follow me on X, and get updates from my GiveSendGo website.

Sincerely,

Michelle Efendi