(TheRedAlertNews,com) – A US Navy veteran, who is also a single father, was thrown in jail by a judge in North Carolina for refusing to wear a COVID-19 mask in the absence of local mandates.
Gregory Hahn ended up in jail after appearing for jury duty in a court in North Carolina’s Harnett County.
With no local coronavirus mask mandates in place, Hahn refused to wear a mask when ordered to do so by local judge Charles Gilchrist, the vet told Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, as cited by The National Review.
Gilchrist reacted by tossing Hahn in jail for contempt of the court without even considering the latter’s status as a single father of a minor child.
“I never thought I would show up to jury duty and end up behind bars,” Gregory Hahn said.
He said the courthouse had no signs requiring masks, and he was among 99 jury candidates who “all walked in.”
Renee Whittenton, a superior court clerk, told WRAL that Charles Gilchrist is the only judge within the courthouse who requires a mask.
“You can go in any district courtroom without a mask, you can come into superior clerk court without a mask and the [district attorney’s] office without a mask, but with Judge Gilchrist, he has a mandate that you must wear a mask,” Whittenton said.
In a written statement, the clerk said the court had informed all jurors about Gilchrist’s mask requirement, providing everyone with a mask to wear at check-in.
Even though Hahn’s refusal to comply with Gilchrist’s COVID-19 mask mandate didn’t violate local masking laws, the judge had the single father arrested and jailed for 24 hours.
“It was the worst 24 hours of my life. I was refused to make a phone call to my minor child, who is home,” Hahn explained.
He said he asked the judge to excuse him since it was just one day in jail, and he is the single father of an underage child.
“I could, but I’m not going to,” Gilchrist responded, according to Hahn.
“If safety was such a concern, I go to jail, no mask requirements with inmates,” the Navy veteran said.
He emphasized that the “irony of all this is the judge was talking to me without a mask.”
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A man who reported for jury duty this week found himself in jail for 24 hours after he refused to wear a mask in court, despite there being no local mask mandates in place. | @brittybernstein https://t.co/XiMEeZtdHC
— National Review (@NRO) October 18, 2022
