Kelly Walker, a journalist and father of five formerly from Tucson, is expanding his efforts to protect children from bad policies in schools despite being arrested and prosecuted after one school pushed back. Since the bad experience, he’s built a platform of advocacy for parents and children harmed by school policies at Real Freedom Talk. He now produces videos about abuses in schools and appears on major talk shows to discuss his experiences and expose what is happening in Tucson schools.
Walker said what prompted his activism was observing the increase in mental health problems among children due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. A student committed suicide near his home, and the suicide rate among children in Pima County increased 30 percent. A nearby school admitted they had locked students in closets and forgotten about them. He said parents from the community came to his former coffee shop, Viva Coffee House, and asked him if he could do something about it.
On September 25, 2021, Walker and another dad were arrested for confronting school administrators after the dad’s child was forced to retrieve a dirty mask from the garbage and wear it. The mainstream media published an article titled “Angry Men With Zip-Ties Ambush School Principal After COVID Masking Request.” Walker said if this was accurate, he would have been charged with felonies, not misdemeanors.
He told The Arizona Sun Times that the school superintendent asked Pima County Sheriff’s officers to profile and target him before he “ever set foot in a meeting,” which is documented in a police report. Walker said a retired sheriff’s lieutenant, who is now running for Pima County Sheriff, was the one solicited and responded, “This isn’t the Soviet Union!”
During the pretrial hearing, supervising Judge Antonio Riojas, after watching a video of the incident, said that the fathers “sat down the entire time,” adding, “That’s not disorderly conduct. That’s not rude; that’s not threatening. You guys don’t get to define how people disagree with you. School districts don’t have that right. The citizens have that right.” Riojas dismissed the harassment charges and sternly rebuked the principal and school district.
However, at trial, Tucson Magistrate Geraldine Hale sentenced Walker — who had no prior record — to 100 days in jail and nearly $10,000 in “restitution,” while the other upset dad was given a plea deal and a $250 fine. In 2021, the city magistrate commission recommended that Hale not be reappointed as a judge, but the city council ignored the recommendation and did so anyway. The commission talked to attorneys and judges who said she had an erratic temperament and lack of basic legal knowledge. A contributor to Tucson.com said she has “a pattern of abusive and incompetent behavior.”
A lien was placed on Walker’s home to seize the restitution money from him, money he’d intended to use for an appeal.
Walker was arrested in 2020 while speaking at a meeting of the Pima County Board of Supervisors. He read them some of the rude and threatening letters he received at his coffee shop for resisting the county’s mask requirement. Governor Doug Ducey issued a mask mandate for businesses on June 17, 2020. “My baristas are afraid. My family is afraid to sleep at night,” Walker told the supervisors. The supervisors stopped him from reading the threats, and when he continued, they ordered deputies to arrest him.
KNST talk show host Garret Lewis interviewed Walker after the arrest. The summary from KNST states, “Kelly Walker, Viva Coffee House owner, was wrongly put on Pima County’s wall of shame by the health department and for being on the wall, received violent threats. His staff also received violent threats. Kelly was arrested when he tried to tell Pima County Supervisors what happened.” The county briefly shut down Walker’s coffee shop.
State Senator Justine Wadsack (R-Tucson) posted a video of the arrest, condemning the “snitch line” that was being used to harass Walker and his business. “’Snitchers’ will barge into the cafe simply to take photos and then run away, making the staff & patrons uncomfortable, and ultimately hurting their repeat business,” she said. “Other ‘snitchers’ will spend the day driving their car in circles in the parking lot in front of the cafe, hoping to catch a photo of a mask-less customer walking inside, and in fact, nearly hit a pedestrian in the process.”
Walker told The Arizona Sun Times he has been extensively harassed but little has been done to those harassing him. He said a “crazy guy harassed my family non-stop and threatened multiple times publicly on social media to murder us was not only not investigated, he sued us!” The man also sued Wadsack and her husband. The Wadsacks filed a counterclaim, accusing Parkey of harassing and stalking them, Walker, and others.
