New Hampshire Told Her to Quarantine After Capitol Rally. Now She’s Asking for Money

A Portsmouth business owner is asking for donations after receiving a warning notice from the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office on January 13.

Joanna Chipi, who owns Zen Den Yoga in Portsmouth, was issued a warning by the state's attorney general after allegedly failing to quarantine after she returned from the deadly protest at the U.S Capitol on January 6, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Seacoast Current.

According to the letter, Chipi was allegedly teaching classes at her Portsmouth studio two days after returning from Washington, D.C., defying required quarantine for people who travel out of state, the warning said.

Chipi, meanwhile, created an online fundraiser and is asking for donations to offset complications from the "unexpected events" since the day of the protest, she wrote on the fundraiser page.

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At the time of publication, the website had raised almost $4,000 of its $50,000 goal. The fundraiser was shared via social media by The Howie Carr Radio Network, which has over 70,000 likes on Facebook.

The warning, which was signed by Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards, said: "In addition to jeopardizing the health and safety of both the public, your members and your staff, your failure to follow (multiple emergency orders) is a violation of state law."

After being contacted by the state, Chipi allegedly told a state official that she did not believe she was required to quarantine, according to the letter, since she wore a mask at the U.S. Capitol rally, a violent protest that resulted in the deaths of five individuals, according to the New York Times.

In the fundraiser's description, Chipi claims she has been "under serious attack by the liberal left and now the NH government; the AG's office specifically," since returning to New Hampshire earlier this month.

"My business ... and my personal life have been turned upside down all for exercising my 1st Amendment rights - going to DC in support of free and fair elections," Chipi wrote. "When I say that or as I write it here, I feel as if I am talking about an excerpt from a nightmare, horror movie, or a communist country."

Chipi updated the website on Tuesday and wrote that Zen Den Yoga had re-opened and was holding classes.

"I have not heard from the state since their notice," she wrote. "Please pray that I will be able to stay open with all the financial repercussions from these recent events ... I was already under tremendous difficulties with keeping the business open and operating under the strangling Covid guidelines."

An email sent to Zen Den Yoga was not immediately returned at the time of publication.