Father Scott Smith Arrested at Loudoun County School Board Meeting
Scott Smith was arrested and dragged out of a June 22, 2021 Loudoun County Public Schools board meeting after speaking about the sexual assault of his daughter in a school bathroom. His bloodied photo became a national symbol in the school-board protest debate; his disorderly conduct conviction was later vacated after Governor Youngkin pardoned him.
During public comment on the district's proposed transgender-student policy, Scott Smith attempted to tell the board that his 9th-grade daughter had been sexually assaulted in a Stone Bridge High School bathroom by a male student wearing a skirt. An argument with another attendee escalated; sheriff's deputies took Smith to the ground, handcuffed him, and removed him from the meeting, which the board then declared an unlawful assembly and adjourned. Smith was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and convicted in August 2021. The assault was later confirmed by a juvenile court adjudication. A special grand jury empaneled by AG Jason Miyares found the district had mishandled the case. Governor Glenn Youngkin issued a full pardon in 2023, and Smith's convictions were vacated. The National School Boards Association's Sept. 29, 2021 letter to the White House citing this meeting was later cited by AG Merrick Garland's memo directing the FBI to address school-board threats — sparking congressional inquiry.