A Free Speech Victory’ in a ‘Very Dark World’: Loudoun County Father Arrested at 2021 School Board Meeting Reacts to Acquittal

Jon Tigges, the Loudoun County father arrested at a heated school board meeting in June 2021, was found not guilty of trespassing. On Jan. 4, a judge at the Loudoun County Circuit Court ruled so, overturning a guilty determination by a lower court.

Tigges was arrested and charged with trespassing for refusing to leave the school board meeting room after the then-superintendent declared the public gathering an unlawful assembly. Around 250 people were due to speak during public comment that day, but the board cut off the session earlier, citing a disruptive crowd.

“It’s completely a free-speech victory,” Tigges told The Epoch Times after his acquittal. “This is a public meeting. You can’t just kick us out when you don’t want to hear what we have to say.”

Then-Superintendent Scott Ziegler later admitted that he didn’t have the authority to declare the assembly unlawful… (Excerpt from The Epoch Times)