The lockdown is doing bad things to people.
Rochester, New York AM talk show host Shannon Joy has been at the forefront of lockdown protest rallies around town since Governor Cuomo usurped power that belongs to the legislature and started treating upstate like New York City. At a rally on May 16, Joy was startled to find herself stuck behind a man in a blue car who blocked her way as she was leaving to go home. What happened next is hard to believe.
Police in Rochester described the incident in the weekly Monroe County blotter.
The victim left a “restart ROC” rally at Pittsford Plaza on 5/16/20 at about 1345 hours. The victim was driving on French Rd when a blue Honda Civic stopped suddenly next to a parked Amazon delivery van so that no traffic could pass on French Rd. A male, approximately 40 years old, exited the Civic and approached the victim’s car screaming at her. He hit the hood of her vehicle and kicked her vehicle as he continued to scream. The male went back to his car, retrieved a bottle of hand sanitizer and waved it at the victim. A witness heard him say, “you want something to protest, I’ll give you a protest.” Deputies made contact with the registered owner, Morgan Bida. Morgan admitted to the above incident and said he saw writing on the victim’s car related to reopening New York. Bida turned himself in at A-zone and was issued an appearance ticket for Pittsford Town Court.
“For a few moments, I was afraid for my life,” Joy told PJ Media. “I thought he was going to open the passenger side door but I managed to get the doors locked. Then he went back to his car to grab something and I thought it could be a weapon.”
It turned out to be a large bottle of hand sanitizer that he started waving around while kicking and punching her vehicle. “At that point, I realized I had to get evidence for the police so I was able to get photographs of him and his license plate,” said Joy.
The attacker turned out to be a local college professor, Morgan Bida, who teaches at Rochester Institute of Technology. Police said he turned himself in and admitted to the incident. He told police he saw the writing on Joy’s car related to opening New York and it angered him. Joy had phrases painted on her car that said, “Phase 4 Now,” and “My body my choice! No forced mandates.”
Resistance grows in New York as thousands turn out to protest #lockdown orders from self appointed dictator @NYGovCuomo! Several hundred assembled in Rochester for #RestartROC!
We‘re getting STRONGER.
We’re getting LOUDER.
We’ll NEVER give in. @CountyExecBello @BobDuffyROC pic.twitter.com/dsaXUR7p5P— Shannon Joy (@ShannonJoyRadio) May 18, 2020
Who is to blame for lockdown rage?
Joy doesn’t blame Bida as much as the leadership in New York and the media. “Even though this person did something wrong, to me the larger concern is the culture of fear that is creating an environment where people are so fearful they do crazy things,” Joy told PJ Media. “This is the fault of those in power who divide us. [Bida] has been so manipulated by fear that he thought it was his duty to do what he did, most likely,” she said.
Joy has been a consistent voice against the lockdown of the whole country and has tried to warn people of the loss of liberties it has wrought along with the devastation to small business owners and their families. She is also suing the governor with several other business owners who are challenging the constitutionality of the lockdown. “Andrew Cuomo is at the top and below him are a myriad of bureaucrats in the health department using fear-driven manipulated data as propaganda to justify this extreme lockdown,” said Joy. “The consequence is dividing us and pitting us against each other.”
Can’t we all just get along?
Joy doesn’t hold any ill-will toward Bida. “My intent is not to destroy this guy. If we could just talk to each other outside of this highly politicized arena, maybe we could build bridges.” Joy says she’d welcome Bida onto her program to talk with him in a calm way about why she believes it’s time for New York to reopen.
As for the photos she took of the professor on the attack, those are staying private. Joy declined to share them in the spirit of reconciliation. “I have no desire to humiliate the individual responsible. He will face a judge and that’s enough.” After Bida turned himself in to police he was charged with third-degree menacing.
The scary event didn’t cool Joy’s passion for protesting. “I went the very next week to another one! Bullies don’t scare me,” she said. The Shannon Joy Show can be heard week nights on WHAM 1180 at 9PM EST.
Megan Fox is the author of “Believe Evidence; The Death of Due Process from Salome to #MeToo,” and host of The Fringe podcast. Follow on Twitter @MeganFoxWriter
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