West Virginia nurse Amy Johnson was arrested on Thursday and charged with the shooting of another woman who needed to be air-lifted to a hospital. Johnson made national headlines back in August when she spoke at the RNC 2020, praising President Donald Trump‘s response to the coronavirus pandemic. According to local news outlet WSAZ-TV, authorities charged Johnson with malicious wounding.
Johnson also goes by the names Amy Johnson Ford and Amy Jolene Thorn but was billed as Amy Johnson for the Republican National Convention. Johnson allegedly shot a woman named Jonda Whitt in Williamson, West Virginia. It is not clear what precipitated the attack, but Whitt needed to be air-lifted from the Vinson Street area to a nearby hospital. She underwent surgery on Thursday night and is now expected to be okay. At the time of this writing, it appears Johnson is still in jail.
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“Amy is well-known around the area for her participation and going over to the RNC committee and a nurse that was helping out with the coronavirus and was on the front line,” said Williamson police chief Grady Dotson in an interview with WCHS-TV.
Dotson’s department noted Johnson’s various aliases but said that she had been a Registered Nurse through the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses since at least 2003, under the name Amy Jolene Johnson.
Johnson was interviewed by WSAZ-TV back in April when she traveled to New York City to aid in the coronavirus crisis in the city. She said: “I just felt like my services were needed more in New York than home at this time.” Johnson’s message to TV viewers at the time was: “I’m begging. I’m begging you to maintain social distancing.”
This interview made it all the more surprising a few months later when Johnson accepted an invitation to speak on behalf of Trump’s coronavirus pandemic response at the RNC 2020. She said: “As a healthcare professional, I can tell you without hesitation, Donald Trump’s quick action and leadership saved thousands of lives during COVID-19.”
Perplexed critics noted that few public health officials and healthcare professionals have praised Trump in this way and that the president has voiced disdain for safety precautions like social distancing and face masks. Just last month at the 2020 presidential election debate, Trump impugned his opponent Joe Biden by saying: “I don’t wear a mask like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from you, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
So far, there are no updates on Johnson’s case, or whether she is expected to go to trial. Whitt is reportedly in stable condition following life-saving surgery.
