Rightwing mom violently grabs phone during heated debate about LGBTQ+ mural

A Cincinnati school board meeting briefly erupted in chaos earlier this week when one woman grabbed the phone of another as students spoke in defense of a pro-LGBTQ+ mural.

Local NPR station WVXU reports that dozens of parents and students attended Wednesday’s meeting of the Forest Hills School District board to speak out both for and against a mural depicting symbols of diversity and LGBTQ+ inclusion that was recently painted over.

Related:

School board orders removal of student-painted mural containing LGBTQ+ imagery

A statement from the clinic lamented that the only way the school would renew their contract was if they removed the mural.

As one student who identified as LGBTQ+ spoke, a woman in the front row stood up and grabbed the phone of another woman who was recording the meeting. Video recorded by the second woman and posted to TikTok shows the first woman saying, “You take a picture of me, I’mma take your f**kin’ phone and give it to the cops.”

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The video goes blurry, but one woman can be heard calling for a police officer and accusing the woman who grabbed the phone of “heckling these children” as other attendees gasp. When the video restabilizes, the first woman can be seen being escorted out by a police officer, threatening to kick the second woman’s butt as she leaves.

After videos of the incident were posted to social media, several users on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) identified the woman who was escorted out of the meeting as the mother of Forest Hills School District board member Katie Stewart. One user accused the woman who was ejected from the meeting of laughing at a parent who spoke about her child’s suicide attempt and mocking other speakers.

As Fox News reported in 2021, Stewart is one of four parents who were elected to the Forest Hills School District board with no prior experience on a platform against what they characterized as “critical race theory.” At Wednesday night’s meeting, Stewart wore a yellow Gadsden flag t-shirt. The flag, which dates back to the American Revolution, has become associated with right-leaning libertarians.

According to WVXU, speakers during the meeting’s public comment period criticized Superintendent Larry Hook’s decision to paint over the LGBTQ+ inclusive mural at Nagel Middle School. The mural was created by students years ago but was covered by a banner touting the district’s new “Culture Blueprint” when students returned this year. After the banner was torn down, the mural was painted over in what Hook said was part of the district’s “rebranding efforts.”

WVXU reports attendees held up signs of the mural each time Hook spoke at the meeting. Hook declined to address speakers’ criticisms during the meeting, but afterward, he told reporters that he had spoken to people who were upset by the mural. “So it’s kind of created this battle that shouldn’t even be in schools,” he said. “We need to focus on our education. We need to focus on what’s important. That doesn’t mean we marginalize anybody.”