In Texas, Round Rock Independent School District (RRISD) uses armed agents to arrest outspoken parents who argue against the school board’s policies, according to Christopher Rufo in the City Journal.
Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said:
The battle lines are clear: on one side, the Biden administration, public school bureaucrats, and their armed agents; on the other, parents and families who oppose school closures, mask mandates, critical race theory and corruption. Public school officials have demonstrated a willingness to use police power to silence and intimidate their opponents.
Jeremy Story and Dustin Clark, two fathers, spoke out against the school boards’ “alleged corruption and school officials’ hostility toward parents.” In August, while “produc[ing] evidence that the board had covered up an alleged assault by the superintendent, Hafedh Azaiez, against a mistress,” Story, a minister, was cut off midsentence as Azaiez ordered armed officers to remove him from the premises, according to Chronicles Magazine.
The next district meeting had the mask mandate issue. Clark, a retired Army captain, and other parents sought to speak; however, the school board “locked the majority of parents out of the room, preventing them from speaking.” According to Rufo, while the parents asked the school board to open the room for public comment on a major policy item, “school board president Amy Weir directed officers to remove Clark from school property.”
“As he was dragged out by two officers, Clark shouted to the audience: ‘It’s an open meeting! Shame on you. Communist! Communist! Let the public in!'” Rufo explained.
Many parents believe the school board is trying to send a message: “if you speak out against us, we will turn you into criminals,” argues Rufo.
Story and Clark believe what they have gone through has implications beyond RRISD, with Story saying, “This isn’t just about Dustin [Clark] and me. It is about everyone. If they can come for us and get away with it, school boards nationwide will be emboldened to come for you.”
