‘Mob rule’: Rocklin school board meetings overwhelmed by chaos, threats and misinformation
Jen Brookover scanned the Rocklin Unified district board room for emergency exits. The recent Rocklin Unified school board meeting she was attending had devolved into disarray: A scuffle very nearly broke out among those attending, furious members of the public threatened board members and the Rocklin police officer present made no attempt to intervene.
Members of the Proud Boys, a white supremacist group that has become increasingly aggressive toward school officials throughout the country over masking policies, have attended school board meetings in Rocklin and Roseville. But it’s not just the Proud Boys. Several other anti-mask and anti-vax extremist groups are now a vocal presence.
The American public school board meeting has become a somewhat unlikely safe space for conspiracy theorists to promote their false beliefs. And Rocklin Unified’s board meeting was a perfect example, serving as a bully pulpit for anti-science extremists.
The chaotic five-and-a-half hour meeting in September saw a member of the anti-mask, anti-vax group Moms 4 Liberty allege that masking in schools is a form of “segregation” and “mind control.” Another member of the public said “we’re not going to have a vaccine problem in Rocklin” before yelling “1776,” a mantra of the far-right.
Yet another anti-vaccine group with a local presence, the White Rose, appears to have named itself after the World War II-era anti-Nazi group of the same name. Drawing false equivalence between COVID regulations and Nazi fascism is popular among anti-vax, anti-mask groups, including some local teachers and school board members.
Fliers credited to the White Rose with an image labeled “lab rat” were left on cars parked at a district elementary school. “Your child is not an experiment,” the flier says.
On Sept. 9, the district emailed parents and families to let them know that fraudulent emails appearing to be from staff members — or, in some cases, the Placer County Department of Health — were actually sent by members of the White Rose. “The letters contain information contrary to requirements recommended by the California Department of Public Health related to students wearing masks, vaccines, and other controversial topics,” the Rocklin Unified letter said.
According to district spokesman Sundeep Dosanjh, similar run-ins with the group have occurred elsewhere in Placer County as well as in Sacramento County.
Although a Rocklin police officer is now present at school board meetings, the board and law enforcement did very little to calm rising tensions at the Sept. 1 meeting, even when members of the public leveled not-so-veiled threats of violence. Board member Dereck Counter struggled to regain control of the meeting at several points.
“You’re lucky there’s not a lot more people here because we’re getting really frustrated, and you’re gonna need a lot more police than that,” said Matthew Cropley, a parent who also claimed that separating unmasked and masked students is a form of modern segregation comparable to slavery, Native American genocide and Japanese internment camps.
One frustrated speaker ominously emphasized the name and location of his child’s teacher. While the school board didn’t respond, two members of the public asked the board to address such apparent threats.
Others in the audience greeted the menacing comments with roars of applause, high-fives, and even standing ovations.
But Rocklin resident Curtis Borton provided a rare voice of reason in the meeting.
“I’ve heard people tonight talk about slavery, and you want to say that’s equivalent to asking a kid to put a piece of paper on his face?” he said. “This is ridiculous that this is the mob rule that they think they’re defending.”
Borton then turned to the school board.
“When they say they’re coming for you, they probably are,” he said. “You let people make some pretty racist comments, and you took it because they’re allowed to go over their time as long as they’re yelling and you’re afraid.
“Guess what?” Borton added, addressing the audience. “Trump lost and Jesus would wear a mask.”
Rising tensions and threats of violence have discouraged Rocklin teachers, parents, and residents who support common-sense health measures like mask mandates not just from speaking up at these meetings but from even attending them. At the meeting last month, four different community members presented statements on behalf of anonymous district teachers who feared retaliation if they spoke publicly.
Borton, who has children in Rocklin Unified and is a teacher in the San Juan Unified School District, is one of the few consistently outspoken pro-mask voices at the meetings. He said like-minded peers have told him they don’t feel safe attending the meetings.
“These folks are used to being loud and resorting to bullying,” Borton said. “Other folks sit there and take the high road, but you can still shout from the high road.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 11:45 AM.