R&I – TxPAT ***
As far as injustices in the world go, the story of a Loudon, Virginia, man who became the poster child for “domestic terrorism” after his daughter was raped is pretty high on the list.
Scott Smith was arrested on June 22 at a school board meeting that was deemed an “unlawful assembly” after attendees voiced opposition to a proposed policy expanding special protections to transgender students. Smith was dragged from the event in handcuffs, his pants falling down, his lip bleeding. He was charged later with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Smith’s arrest soon became a national story. The small business owner became the avatar of anti-school board protests, representing the unruly and ignorant anti-mask, anti-critical race theory, and anti-transgender parents in their crusade against the progressive, put-upon school officials.
What few knew until now is that Smith attended the June 22 hearing to confront school board members over his daughter’s alleged rape in a school bathroom by a “gender-fluid” boy.
The details apparently don’t matter to the National School Boards Association. In a letter to the White House this month, it actually highlighted Smith’s arrest as an example of why federal law enforcement agencies need to investigate and prosecute parents who oppose mask mandates and the teaching of critical race theory.
“As these acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased,” the group’s letter to the president said, “the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
It adds, “[We request] a joint expedited review by the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and Homeland Security, along with the appropriate training, coordination, investigations, and enforcement mechanisms from the FBI, including any technical assistance necessary from, and state and local coordination with, its National Security Branch and Counterterrorism Division, as well as any other federal agency with relevant jurisdictional authority and oversight.”
The Justice Department announced last week it would mobilize the federal law enforcement apparatus against school board protesters, saying it will investigate and prosecute as necessary.
The NSBA’s letter went so far as to request the use of Bush-era anti-terrorism legislation.
On Aug. 17, Smith was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 10 days in jail, “all suspended, contingent on a year of good behavior,” Loudon Now reports.
The top prosecutor on the case, Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj, who ran on a pro-leniency platform, also pursued a fine and anger management training for Smith, additional punishments the defendant’s attorney found astonishing given that the 10-day sentence already seemed excessive for a man with a largely clean record.
It’s an amazing turn of events for a father who simply tried to speak out after his daughter was raped and beaten at school.
Smith told the Daily Wire that on May 28, “a boy allegedly wearing a skirt entered a girls’ bathroom at nearby Stone Bridge High School, where he sexually assaulted Smith’s ninth-grade daughter.”
The family’s attorney, Elizabeth Lancaster, told the Daily Wire “that a boy was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy, one count of anal sodomy, and one count of forcible fellatio, related to an incident that day at that school.”
The sheriff’s office confirmed via a public records request the existence of a report with “Offense: Forcible Sodomy [and] Sexual Battery” matching the date and location of Smith’s rape.
Yet, on June 22, during the school board’s hearing on the proposed policy for transgender students, school board member Beth Barts said, “Our students do not need to be protected, and they are not in danger. Do we have assaults in our bathrooms or locker rooms regularly?”
Superintendent Scott Ziegler responded, “To my knowledge, we don’t have any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms.”
“Have we had any issues involving transgender students in our bathrooms or locker rooms?” asked board Chairwoman Brenda Sheridan.
Said Ziegler, “I think it’s important to keep our perspective on this, we’ve heard it several times tonight from our public speakers, but the predator transgender student or person simply does not exist.”
Gellieman