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Charges To Be Dropped Against Colorado Woman In ‘Criminal’ Chalking

Shauna Johnson
Colorado resident Shauna Johnson expressed her anger over migrant children being separated from their parents in a chalk message to Rep. Ken Buck. She was later charged with criminal tampering, but that charge has now been dropped.

 

The attorney for Colorado’s 18th District has filed to dismiss the criminal tampering case against a Colorado woman who wrote a chalk message outside Rep. Ken Buck’s office.

In early June, Shauna Johnson wrote “stop putting kids in cages” in chalk outside Buck’s Castle Rock office. Johnson was expressing her outrage over migrant children being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to Buck’s office, the building’s manager — not a member of Buck’s staff — contacted law enforcement about the chalk message. Officers issued Johnson a citation for 2nd degree criminal tampering, which could have resulted in up to a $1,000 fine or a year in jail.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado agreed to represent Johnson.

“We are pleased with the decision of the prosecution to dismiss the 'criminal tampering' charge against Shauna Johnson,” ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein said in a statement. “We agree that it is a just result. … She did no damage and intended no harm.”

Silverstein says Johnson never should have been charged in the first place. The building’s manager has not yet responded to a request for comment from KUNC.

 

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