On Monday, a Louisiana teacher was arrested after she questioned a school board as it conducted an open hearing.

The video shows the troubling circumstances in which the teacher, Deyshia Hargrave was ordered out of the meeting while actively engaged in dialogue with the board.



Now don't get me wrong, I'm normally very sympathetic of the hard choices police officers must make. I also have little time for individuals such as the infamous Code Pink protesters who believe that public forums represent their unilateral preserve for disruption. Yet in this case, Hargrave was not disrupting the proceedings but was simply questioning those in power.

And there's very little, aside perhaps from baseball, the Marine Corps and apple pie that's more American than holding public officials to account.

In that sense, the police marshal's behavior, and that of the school board, seems utterly unacceptable. Instead of attempting to ask Hargrave to finish her question and sit down to hear the answer, the board ignored her and the officer moved aggressively to remove her. What happened once Hargrave entered the hallway is not clear, but based on her recorded decision to leave the forum peacefully, it seems unlikely she was causing any issues for the marshal.

An investigation should now take place with expedient urgency. But unless compelling exculpatory evidence comes to light — say, for example, that Hargrave pushed the Marshal in the hallway — she should receive a full apology and the marshal should be fired.

This isn't that complicated.

Citizens have the right to peacefully assemble to petition government for a redress of their grievances. Instead, in Louisiana on Monday, the coercive powers of the state were employed to silence a citizen exercising her constitutional rights.

Regardless of the political debates involved in the board meeting, this silencing of an American should outrage and concern us all.