SWAMPSCOTT — A Marblehead woman who was protesting in Swampscott will go on trial for accosting young children, the Lynn District Court clerk’s magistrate decided on Thursday.
The incident occurred on Oct. 23, said Sgt. Jay Locke, spokesperson for the Swampscott Police Department.
Maryelizabeth Reddish, 53, of Franklin Street in Marblehead, was participating in a protest in Swampscott on Monument Avenue. She had signs that said “F*ck Biden”, a giant sheet on the side of her car saying “Do not comply” and was waving a flag, all of which was legal, Locke said.
Reddish was talking to somebody when she noticed a group of minors playing in a nearby park. She tried to engage them in a conversation, saying that President Joe Biden was a pedophile and telling them about anal sex. Locke said that the children were of elementary-school age.
A couple of days later, the Swampscott Police Department received videos of the incident and decided to investigate Reddish.
“Vulgar language falls under free speech, but civility goes a long way,” said Locke. He called Reddish’s behavior uncalled for and disturbing.
A Swampscott detective on the case was able to identify one of the children involved in the incident and contacted the child’s parents, who were shocked to learn about what had happened. After conducting interviews and investigation, Swampscott police decided to charge Reddish with annoying and accosting a person of the opposite sex and disturbing the peace, Locke said.
Protests on Monument Avenue have been going on for months. However, the numbers of people participating in them have dwindled, from up to 100 people some days, to three to four individuals protesting a couple times a week. Locke said that the topics of protest have varied greatly from social issues, such as Black Lives Matter, vaccinations, taxes and the economic shutdown.
“We had plans, we organized and tried to keep everybody as safe as possible and protect everybody’s rights to free speech,” Locke said about bigger protests in the past.
People come to protest in Swampscott both because Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker lives there and because they get more audience from people walking or driving along the shore and going to the beach, Locke said.
