Rorie Woods, a 55-year-old woman residing in Massachusetts, USA, is facing several assault charges for allegedly releasing a swarm of bees on a group of police officers as they tried to serve an eviction notice in Longmeadow.
Woods pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on October 12 in Springfield District Court and was released without bail, reported Mass Live.
On October 12, the deputies of the Hampden County Sheriff's Department went to a house to serve court-issued eviction in Longmeadow and were met with several protesters, according to the official department report. Soon after, the 55-year-old, who does not reside in the locality, arrived in an SUV with a trailer carrying beehives and started "shaking" them, breaking the cover off one and causing hundreds of bees to swarm out. She had worn a beekeeper's suit to protect herself, it added.
The bees stung several officers including two-three who are allergic to them. When Woods was told that several officers were allergic to bees, she said "Oh, you're allergic? Good," according to the report. She was later arrested.
According to the TIME, Woods and other protesters argue that they were trying to prevent a wrongful eviction. The homeowner, Alton King, brought evidence of a bankruptcy stay to court the next day, at which point "everything should have stopped," said Grace Ross of the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending.
"Never in all my years of leading the Hampden County Sheriff's Civil Process Division have I seen something like this," Robert Hoffman, Chief Deputy of the Civil Process Office, was quoted as saying in a long post published on Facebook by the Hampden County Sheriff Department. "I hope that these out-of-county protesters will reconsider using such extreme measures in the future because they will be charged and prosecuted."
Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi said that had something worse happened to his officers, Rorie Woods would have faced serious charges. "We had one staff member go to the hospital and luckily, he was alright or she would be facing manslaughter charges. I support people's right to protest peacefully but when you cross the line and put my staff and the public in danger, I promise you will be arrested."
The report also adds that Woods will be produced in court at a later date.
