‘I Am Not Resisting!’ Teacher Arrested Mid-Interview While Condemning Trump’s Military Action

A preschool teacher was taken away on live television after she criticized President Donald Trump and the United States operation in Venezuela. The arrest happened in downtown Grand Rapids on Saturday, and viewers saw the moment as it unfolded on a local news broadcast.

Jessica Plichta, 22, said she had just finished an interview with WZZM, the city’s ABC affiliate, when two police officers moved in from behind. In the footage she can be heard telling officers, “I am not resisting arrest.”

Police said Plichta was arrested for obstructing a roadway and for failing to obey a lawful command. Officials said the protest that day drew about 200 people and that Plichta was charged with failure to obey a lawful command.

Plichta told the outlet Zeteo she believes the timing was no accident. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that as soon as I finished an interview speaking on Venezuela, I was arrested,” she said. She described being moved out of camera view and placed in a patrol car without a seat belt, then taken out again for a search.

She said officers pressed her about Venezuela and urged her to name other demonstrators. “We are so accustomed to, and used to, repression when we speak out on anti war topics. When we speak out for Venezuela, when we speak out for Palestine, we expect the police to want to shut that down,” she told Zeteo. “It just shows how much they feel they can get away with things, how easy it is for them to isolate people from the public eye when they’re doing this.”

Plichta said she mostly stayed silent while in custody as officers repeated the same questions. She was released after roughly three hours when other protesters gathered and called for her freedom. A video shared on social media showed her punching the air after she walked free.

The Grand Rapids Police Department disputed parts of Plichta’s account. The department said officers had told protesters to move to the sidewalk and that some refused. It said supervisors warned participants they could be arrested if later identified and that blocking intersections violated city rules. The department said its actions followed those warnings.

The arrest came as part of a much larger story. U.S. forces carried out an operation in Caracas that led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. That action has deepened public debate in the United States over how far the country should go in Venezuela. A Reuters Ipsos poll this week found roughly one in three Americans approve of the strike, while 72% said they fear the United States will get too involved.

The video of Plichta being led off the street raises a basic question about free speech and the policing of protest. Who gets to speak in public, and what happens when that speech is critical of the government? The image of a young teacher being taken away during a news interview makes the question plain and immediate.

It is a small scene on one city sidewalk, but it has clear drama. A teacher finishes an interview, tells officers she is not resisting, and is then handcuffed and led to a car. The sequence is simple and stark enough to push the episode into a larger national argument about protest, policing, and how public space is policed.

Featured image via X screengrab