Baltimore City Public Schools is tightening security around school board meetings two weeks after audience members were perceived as a threat.
Starting on Tuesday of this week, entry into the school system’s headquarters on 200 E. North Ave., where board meetings take place, will be limited to one entrance that faces Guilford Avenue, according to a Monday news release. All visitors will have to be screened for weapons. Exiting the building after the meeting will only happen on the North Avenue side. No one can stand during the meeting and only members of the news media are allowed to record audio and video with professional equipment.
“Photos or videos captured by non-media members using cell phones from seats within the boardroom will still be permitted,” the release stated.
A spokesperson for the school system said in a message Tuesday that the new rules are because of recent boardroom renovations and recent installation of a weapon detection system.
The new rules were put in place after the Aug. 27 meeting abruptly ended. Law enforcement “observed a perceived threat from an unknown group of individuals” who “stationed themselves at various locations in the boardroom, clearly communicating and demonstrating coordinated behaviors consistent with a planned activity,” the school system said in a statement a day after the meeting.
One of those people was John K. Amanchukwu Sr., a North Carolina resident who said in an interview that he was there with supporters. He was planning to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting about the lack of academic achievement among Black students and what he called a failure in leadership.
When audience members were asked to leave, Amanchukwu stayed behind while eight police cars arrived. A cameraman filmed him saying the meeting was cut short because the board didn’t want to listen to him speak. But police, according to the system, said the meeting was stopped out of “an abundance of caution.” The audience was removed so police could investigate, they said.
Amanchukwu identifies himself in his X profile as a pastor and contributor to the right-wing organization Turning Point USA. His profile says he’s “Labeled as The Book Banning Pastor by liberal media,” and he’s been removed from school board meetings around the country.
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