Deputies were called to clear the room at a raucous Loudoun County School Board meeting in Ashburn. The incident happened on Tuesday. One parent was taken into custody and another one was injured, as The Blaze reports.
What are the details?
A huge crowd of parents showed up at the meeting. They were reportedly furious about the critical race theory principles and the policies surrounding transgender students. Several signs held up said “We the parents stand up.” Others pointed out to the need for “education not indoctrination.”
The group chanted their demands and also sang the national anthem.
Former state Sen. Richard Black said the board got annoyed when they saw the crowd. Public comment was shut down after criticism on the controversial policies.
“You retaliated against Tanner Cross for addressing a public hearing of this board. The judge ordered you to reinstate Mr. Cross because if his comments were not protected speech, then free speech does not exist at all. You're making teachers lie to students, and even kids know that it's wrong. This board has a dark history of suppressing free speech. They caught you red-handed with an enemies list to punish opponents of critical race theory. You're teaching children to hate others because of their skin color. I am disgusted,” Black said, as reported by The Blaze.
Just before his last words, Black’s microphone was cut. The crowd cheered for him, nonetheless.
After repeated warnings about decorum and disruptions, WRC-TV reported that the board unanimously voted to have the meeting shut down.
“Shame on you!” the parents chanted.
The news station also added that almost 260 people had signed up to speak at the meeting.
However, a school district spokesperson said that “the meeting has degenerated” as the people were ordered to leave.
“One man was acting disorderly and displayed aggressive behavior towards another attendee”, the sheriff's office said in a statement.
A deputy intervened, and the man continued to be disorderly. Deputies tried to arrest him, and he resisted. The man, whose name has not been released, was charged with disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.
“Another man received a summons for trespassing after school officials asked those in attendance to clear the room. A third person received a minor injury, officials said, without releasing details,” the news station pointed out.
Two parents shared with Fox News that less than half of those registered to speak got a chance to do it.
“They were silencing us every time we tried to speak. They don't answer our emails. It erupted, and emotions were high tonight, for sure,” Amy Jahr said for the news outlet.
“They can keep trying, but we are not going to stop. This is a woke school board, and it’s also the worst school board, and we are not going to stop until we get a seat at the table,” Ian Prior said for the outlet.
What was the board’s reaction?
School Board Chair Brenda Sheridan said for WRC that the board seeks to stand up for LGBTQ students during Pride Month and will continue its work.
“We will not back down from fighting for the rights of our students and continuing our focus on equity. We will continue to work toward making Virginia, specifically Loudoun, the best place to raise a family. Loud voices aiming to make our schools a political battleground will not silence the work for our students,” she added after the incident at the Ashburn meeting.