Jury yet to reach verdict for Mitchell man who refused to wear mask at school board meeting

Oct. 19—A jury has yet to reach a verdict for a Mitchell man who was charged with obstructing a law officer roughly a year ago after refusing to wear a mask during a Mitchell Board of Education meeting.

Reed Bender, 39, awaits a decision for an incident that broke out between him and Mitchell police on Sept. 14, 2020, after refusing to comply with the school district's COVID-19 mask policy. After a judge denied his request to have the case dismissed in August, the case — which garnered national attention from videos of the incident that circulated across the internet — went to a jury trial that began Monday.

Bender's attorney, R. Shawn Tornow, is arguing police officers removed Bender without lawful authority. Tornow pointed to Mitchell police officers removing Bender from the meeting at the request of Superintendent Joe Graves for not complying with the school's mask policy that was in effect at the time of the incident as actions that were made with "unlawful authority."

"Based on the testimonies we heard today, no reasonable jury can come to the conclusion that he was being disagreeable, and that there was somehow color of lawful authority for the officers to forcefully remove him," Tornow said during Tuesday's hearing. "They had no right to use force in removing him, and he had to defend himself."

Tornow requested a judgement of acquittal, but Judge Donna Bucher denied the motion on Tuesday at the Davison County Courthouse, leaving the verdict into the jury's hands.

During Tuesday's hearing, Graves testified that he consulted with the school district's attorney on the basis of whether he had the authority to request officers remove Bender from the meeting for not complying with the mask policy, which he claimed the attorney informed him that it had the force of the law.

Mitchell police did not arrest Bender the night he was removed from the meeting, and he was not charged for refusing to wear a mask but for "using or threatening to use violence, force or physical interference or obstacle, intentionally obstruct, impair or hinder the enforcement of the criminal laws or the preservation of the peace by law enforcement officers," according to court documents.

While Graves called the Mitchell Police Division to have Bender removed after his offers to provide him with a mask were refused, he said to the officers "we're not interested in pressing charges." However, State's Attorney Jim Miskimins pursued the obstruction of a law officer charge shortly after the incident, which led to the trial.

Graves provided details leading up to his decision to call local authorities and request Bender be removed for refusing to comply with the mask policy. According to Graves' recollection of the incident, Bender got into a "scuffle" with the officers after refusing to leave at their request.

"I did offer (Bender) a mask, and when he declined I informed him he would have to leave. One officer offered a mask and told him if he did not wear a mask he would have to leave. When he refused, they then began to take him by the arms and remove him," Graves said. "There was a scuffle, and during that scuffle one officer had his taser knocked down and the other officer had his handcuffs knocked down. I then returned those items to the officers."

Officers' testimony

Later on during Tuesday's proceedings, both Mitchell Police officers who removed Bender from the school board meeting testified. When Mitchell Police Officers Niko Arnold and Tyler Urban approached Bender in the library where the meeting was being held, they both agreed that Bender did not appear to be "disorderly."

However, after Bender did not comply with the officers' request to leave the property, Arnold said Bender began to "raise his voice" and become agitated.

Moments later, bodycam video footage showed Bender saying "You're going to have to drag me out" in response to the officers' request asking him to leave the school, which is when Arnold said Bender "forcefully pulled" him and later "hit his groin."

"I removed my Taser and pointed it at him, and he then told me to tase him," Arnold said. "I tried to place him in handcuffs, but he refused to cooperate."

According to Graves, Bender knocked a stun gun away from one of the officers, but both officers gave conflicting answers, saying that didn't happen. Officer Urban's bodycam was one item that he said was knocked away from him while trying to remove Bender.

Arnold said it appeared that Bender was trying to make a scene and get others in the crowd involved.

"He began to ignore me and get others involved. It was getting out of control," Arnold said.

As the incident moved outside of the MHS building, Urban said Bender called Graves a derogatory name and appeared to be moving toward him.

Another argument Tornow made centered around video footage and photos of the meeting that showed other attendees not wearing masks in accordance to the school's policy, questioning why they weren't approached in the same manner as Bender was.

Miskimins argued there is clear evidence that shows Bender was resisting officers that warranted the charge brought against him.

Although the jury is still deliberating on a verdict, Bender could face a maximum punishment of one year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000, if found guilty for the class 1 misdemeanor.