Two people were reportedly arrested at a school board meeting in Loudoun County, Virginia, on Tuesday after the gathering was declared an unlawful assembly when large numbers showed up to protest Critical Race Theory (CRT) and transgender ideology being pushed on students.
“The Loudoun County School Board ended the public comment section of its June 22 meeting on a unanimous vote after Chair Brenda L. Sheridan repeatedly warned the attendees in the Board Room that loud public demonstrations violated the decorum of the meeting,” the board said in a statement.
“Sheridan had previously, and repeatedly, warned the public after introducing the public comment section with a reading of School Board Policy 2520. Earlier the chair recessed the School Board meeting for five minutes due to disruptions before the unanimous vote to end public comment was taken.”
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“The Loudoun County sheriff’s office declared the school board meeting an unlawful assembly. Everyone told to get out or will be trespassing,” Reuters reporter Gabriella Borter tweeted with videos of the incident. “Two arrests made at the Loudoun County, Virginia school board meeting after it was declared an unlawful assembly and some parents here to protest against critical race theory and a transgender policy refused to leave right away.”
At one point, the crowd broke out into the National Anthem.
WATCH:
The Loudoun County sheriff’s office declared the school board meeting an unlawful assembly. Everyone told to get out or will be trespassing. Two arrests made #CriticalRaceTheory pic.twitter.com/23Cojtczvy
— Gabriella Borter (@gabriellaborter) June 22, 2021
Two arrests made at the Loudoun County, Virginia school board meeting after it was declared an unlawful assembly and some parents here to protest against critical race theory and a transgender policy refused to leave right away #CriticalRaceTheory pic.twitter.com/dsZDrqJ0Gp
— Gabriella Borter (@gabriellaborter) June 22, 2021
As The Loudoun Times-Mirror reported on the event:
The vote came after remarks by former Virginia State Senator Dick Black (R-13th), elicited loud cheers and applause from many in the crowd.
Black, of Ashburn, lambasted the board for its treatment of Byron “Tanner” Cross, a Leesburg Elementary School teacher who was placed on administrative leave last month after offering public comment at the May 25 board meeting.
“If his comments were not protected speech, then free speech does not exist at all,” Black said.
Cross told the board that he would not recognize students’ preferred gender pronouns or names if they choose to not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. He based his comments on a draft policy that, if passed in its current form, would mandate such recognition by school employees.
“It’s absurd and immoral for teachers to call boys girls, and girls boys,” Black said. He also accused LCPS of “teaching children to hate others because of their skin color” by adopting critical race theory in its curriculum, an allegation LCPS has repeatedly denied.
Local NBC4 reporter Jackie Benson recorded footage of the arrest from a different angle. “New: at least one person in custody after Loudoun Co. School Board meeting re: new policy regarding transgender students descends into chaos & room ordered cleared,” she tweeted.
New: at least one person in custody after Loudoun Co. School Board meeting re: new policy regarding transgender students descends into chaos & room ordered cleared @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/B35vTt7YWX
— Jackie Bensen (@jackiebensen) June 22, 2021
Political consultant Ryan Girdusky, who recently started the 1776 Project PAC to support local school board candidates who oppose CRT, tweeted, “The anger over people’s children is boiling over and now elected officials are scared of their own constituents. Good.”
The anger over people's children is boiling over and now elected officials are scared of their own constituents. Good. https://t.co/lWGIADbi5X
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) June 22, 2021