Member says school board did not encounter a 'mini-January 6 insurrection' with parents rushing the stage

A large number of state chapters of the National School Boards Association have broken ties with the organization over its letter to the Biden administration suggesting that angry parents at school board meetings were akin to “domestic terrorists,” and the NSBA has since apologized for the letter, but Attorney General Merrick Garland said his federal task force would stay in place.

One of the incidents mentioned in the letter was parents rushing the stage with their fists raised at a board meeting in Michigan, but a member of the board says it didn’t happen, despite the school board president telling NPR they experienced a “mini-January 6 insurrection.”

A school board pres. in MI told NPR parents rushed the stage with fists up calling it a mini 6 insurrection. They were footnoted in the NSBA letter. A school board member has come forward to say her story is made up.
https://t.co/1oaXEIm8i4

— Jamie A Hope (@jamieahope) October 29, 2021

Jamie A. Hope reports:

Sara Clark Pierson, president of the Grand Ledge school board, said in local and national interviews (WILX-TV and National Public Radio) that the school board experienced a “mini-January 6 insurrection” during a recent public meeting when parents rushed the stage with their fists up.

But fellow school board member Ben Cwayna says the incident never happened and the parents do not deserve to be labeled as violent.

Cwayna wrote:

I was present at the June 14th meeting in my capacity as a board member. At no time did any member of the audience take over the stage at the meeting. I witnessed no rushing of the stage or fists being shown. In fact, when the recess was called, I stayed in my chair on the stage and eventually walked down and chatted with some in the audience. If I am not mistaken, one other board member (Jarrod Smith) stayed in his chair as well for awhile and may have walked down into the audience area while we waited for the meeting to reconvene.

While the meeting was loud, spirited, and at times, raucous, there was absolutely no violence, threat of violence, or anything of the sort. Had there been, I am sure the authorities would have been called and proper action taken against the offenders. I am unsure where the WILX reporter got information that the stage was taken over. It most certainly was not.