Shannon Cooper, proud mother, arrested for cheering too loudly at high school graduation
Shannon Cooper talks to WPDE TV.
A South Carolina woman was arrested and jailed on June 2 for disorderly conduct after she cheered as her 18-year-old daughter crossed the stage at her high school graduation, MSNBC reported.
Shannon Cooper, a beautician from Florence, SC, admits she made some noise when it was Christin Iesha Cooper’s turn to receive her diploma from South Florence High School, MSNBC reported.
"I am a proud mom," Cooper told MSNBC. “And as soon as they said 'Christin' I stood up, started praising, woohooing and cheering it up for my baby. I was like 'Go baby! You did it.’ "
Before the ceremony, school officials had announced that anyone in the crowd of 9,000 who cheered or screamed for the 407 graduating students would be escorted out of the building, and they made good on their promise, ABC affiliate WPDE TV in Myrtle Beach, SC, reported. Cooper was led out of the auditorium by police.
“According to the report, she was disruptive during the ceremony and ceremonies are considered solemn occasions,” Florence Police Chief Anson Shells told MSNBC. “Everybody wants to hear their child’s name called and everyone was asked to be respectful and to be quiet.”
Police took Cooper to Florence County Detention Center, where they booked her and released her several hours later, after she posted a $225 bond, MSNBC reported.
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Cooper’s daughter said her friends told her that her mother had gotten arrested, WPDE TV reported. “I was like, that isn't right because other people [were] cheering, and they didn't lock them up," Iesha told WPDE TV. (Police also arrested two other vocal people in the audience, MSNBC reported.)
When Iesha went outside to find her mother, she saw her sitting, handcuffed, in a police van, and broke down in tears, WPDE reported.
"Yesterday can't be replaced. I'm gonna remember,” Cooper told WPDE TV. “She gonna remember for the rest of her life: ‘My mama went to jail on my graduation day.’ ”
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