“I AM currently still at Kanoa Resort against my wishes, and I have not been taken before a judge or given a lawyer,” David Butterfield told Variety Tuesday evening.
Butterfield, a freelance photographer and Saipan resident, walked out of Kanoa Resort, the government-designated quarantine facility, on Sunday and was arrested Monday in Garapan on charges of obstruction of justice and public nuisance.
After he was detained at the Department of Corrections for a few hours, he was brought back to Kanoa Resort Monday evening.
On Facebook, he posted: “Around 9PM Sunday I left Kanoa. I took the elevator down and walked out the front door without anybody stopping me.”
“I was arrested yesterday [Monday] and charged with obstruction of justice/public nuisance for leaving quarantine early, despite the fact that I have already recovered from Covid, and tested negative twice, five days apart,” he added.
“Hopefully my case will manifest some change for the CNMI. I am currently being held at Kanoa again. I have not been taken to see a judge, I have not been appointed a lawyer, and it’s been almost 36 hours since my arrest,” he said Tuesday evening.
CNMI Covid-19 Task Force Chairman Warren Villagomez has said that Butterfield left Kanoa on Sunday using the north fire exit. Department of Public Safety officers were stationed in the lobby.
Villagomez said they will be “elevating security” at Kanoa.
Butterfield reiterated that he was tested when he arrived Tuesday last week and took a second test on the fifth day, Sunday.
“Both results are negative,” he added.
But he he was told that he needed to stay for five more days at Kanoa Resort because he was unvaccinated.
“I don’t have any symptoms,” he said. “There’s no reason for them to keep me [at Kanoa] for another week.”
David Butterfield
