LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — Two days after a Loudoun County school board meeting ended in an uproar and led to police arresting a man, Leesburg Police reported on Thursday that white supremacist propaganda fliers addressing topics discussed at the meeting were found outside of multiple homes.
Investigators said the fliers were distributed in the southeast side of town by individuals claiming to be members of the Loyal White Knights Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
The group called on residents to oppose the district's transgender rights policy and plans for racial equity. Leesburg Police said it appeared the fliers were distributed randomly and were not specifically targeted at any particular homes.
On Tuesday, a meeting involving public comments on the transgender rights policy under consideration by the school board led to heated tension and anger boiling over by some members of the crowd.
Over 200 people were scheduled to speak at the meeting. However, after multiple warnings about crowd noise, the school board voted unanimously to cut off the comment section and move to a closed-door session.
Some meeting attendees shouted and chanted to remove certain school board members.
One man was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after officers at the board meeting intervened after the man was acting aggressive towards another attendee, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office (LCSO).
Another man was given a summons and detained after he would not leave the school board meeting room after it had been cleared of public discussion, LCSO said.
Following the chaotic Tuesday meeting, a coalition of LGBTQIA+ organizations based in Fairfax County called on local leaders to condemn "anti-trans hate" in Loudoun County.
GLSEN Northern Virginia, FCPS Pride, the Pride Liberation Project, the Transgender Education Network, the Metropolitan Community Church of Northern Virginia and Safe Space NOVA all said they were concerned about the heated nature of the debate in the area.
"In recent weeks, animosity in statements about policies supporting transgender and gender-expansive students have ramped up in our area, culminating on June 22, 2021, in an anti-LGBTQIA+ “unlawful assembly” at the Loudoun County School Board meeting which some local trans community members described as “the scariest crowd I have ever been in,” “worse than the May 7, 2015 Fairfax School Board meeting,” and involving behavior “…reminiscent of the January 6 insurrectionists at the Capitol," the coalition's statement read.
“We want to assure our LGBTQIA+ students, their families, staff and residents, and particularly BIPOC trans and gender-expansive people, that we are not standing by; we are actively combating this hateful rhetoric to damp it down and prevent escalation," added FCPS Pride President Robert Rigby.
Some of the ongoing debate in Loudoun County also revolves around the treatment of Leesburg Elementary School physical education teacher Tanner Cross by the district after the comments he made in late May.
The comments led to him being put on administrative leave, which was later overturned by a judge. The school district appealed the decision to the Virginia Supreme Court.
Supporters of Tanner Cross believe his free speech rights were violated.
During Tuesday's meeting, similar supporters believed the school board was being unresponsive to their concerns about the racial equity plans and transgender student policy.
"To really go after Tanner Cross like they did is really unjustified," said Scott Mineo, who attended a rally outside the school board building on Tuesday. "I can be friends with anybody. I’m sure Tanner Cross could as well. Just don’t shove your beliefs down my throat and I won’t shove my beliefs down your throat and we can get along just fine.”
Supporters of transgender students have voiced concerns about the message sent to the students following the comments from Cross and the rallies backing him.
Moving forward, the school board expects to vote on the transgender student policy and racial equity plan on August 10th.
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