At a school board meeting for Eastern Carver County schools in Minnesota, parents got into a scuffle that resulted in district leaders calling for civility ... and then announcing an increased police presence for future meetings.
The fight broke out at the end of a 45-minute public comment period where most parents shared their disagreements with the school board enforcing a mask mandate because of a spike in COVID-19 cases.
The school board chair Jeff Ross and Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams said in a statement on Tuesday that the Masking has become a "flashpoint" in the district. But violence is never the answer.
"The behavior and conduct on display in our boardroom this week was unacceptable," the statement read. "It is healthy for us to disagree and to seek more information. It is not OK, and not acceptable to resort to violence or accuse decisionmakers of being Nazis."
The fight appeared to have started when one man wearing a mask, identified as Jonas Sjoberg, took a photo of another man who sat unmasked across from him and had moved directly in front of him after Sjoberg gave his comment.
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A woman sitting behind Sjoberg appeared to have noticed it, calling him out before the unmasked man rolled over to him, taking his phone and starting the altercation.
Sjoberg reportedly attended the meeting to let board members know not everyone was against them. Sjoberg's daughter attends a private school, but he wanted to comment as a resident of Chaska, the Star Tribune reported.
"I saw over the summer all of this negativity about masks, and I thought 'Holy moly, how nice it would be to see a board meeting with people standing up to say thank you to the board,'" he said. "But that's not how it works. That's not why people go."
A principal intervened, stopping the altercation just seconds after it started. The Chaska Police Department is investigating the incident, but no charges have been filed.
The school district's statement also said that the behavior would not be tolerated, adding those who do not follow protocols will be removed from the boardroom.
The Tribune reported that Sjoberg spoke with police after the altercation, not returning to the boardroom, and he does not plan to press charges.
