A Tuesday school board meeting in Loudoun County, Virginia, resulted in two arrests after arguments about the teachings of critical race theory and LGBTQ+ issues. 

During the meeting, a fight broke out in the boardroom with one man physically threatening another attendee, Kraig Troxell, BuzzFeed News reports. 

The man, identified as Scott T. Smith, continued to be disorderly and physically resisted attempts to take him into custody, Troxell said. He was charged with obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct.

School officials declared the meeting an "unlawful assembly" and warned that those who did not leave would face trespassing charges.

Another man, whose name has not yet been revealed, was "charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest," WJLA reports.

The man who refused to leave was detained by deputies and later released on a summons for trespassing, Troxell said. Video footage from Reuters showed the man refusing to leave the premises saying, "This is an unlawful arrest. I have a First Amendment right."

At the board meeting, over 200 angry parents were in attendance in protest against the school board. They brought signs that read “We the parents stand up," “Education not indoctrination,” and “There are two genders: male and female."

There was also an impromptu singing of the national anthem, NBC4 Washington reported.

Loudoun County School District held the meeting to discuss implementing critical race theory into the district’s curriculum. 

According to the Loudoun County school system, they are attempting to be “culturally responsive" to serve their diverse student body.

“Critical race theory is not an honest dialogue—it is a tactic used by Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan on slavery very many years ago to dumb down my ancestors so we could not think for ourselves," one Black parent argued.

For several months, Loudoun County’s School Board has faced accusations from parents that it has embraced critical race theory, a charge the board has continually denied.

"We've had ongoing misinformation and citizens concerned that critical race theory was being taught in our schools. I will say again tonight that it is not,” Loudoun County School District Superintendent Scott Ziegler said. 

The school board unanimously voted to end the public comment portion of the meeting after repeatedly issuing warnings to the audience and being interrupted 

“The meeting has degenerated,” a school district spokesperson said as the board ended the public comments portion of the meeting and ordered the crowd to disperse.

In response, parents chanted, “Shame on you” and raised their middle fingers in the direction of the board members.

Almost 260 people had signed up to speak at the meeting.

As Blavity previously reported, critical race theory has, for some reason, been a hot-button issue throughout the country. States like Florida and Texas have placed restrictions on the way teachers teach about systematic racism in the classroom.

Cris Candice Tuck, a parent of a transgender student, has attended several meetings on the issue with hopes of a more inclusive curriculum and atmosphere in the district.

“At the end of the day, we’re very hopeful that the school board is going to continue to do what’s right for our students, protect transgender students,” Tuck said.

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Aug. 10.

Critical-race-theorylgbtq issuesLoudoun CountyTeacher-RacismTransgender