Altercation brings public comment at Central Bucks School Board meeting to a sudden halt

Police responded to an altercation Tuesday night during the Central Bucks School Board meeting after a man allegedly threw papers into the face of the husband of a Democratic school board member, according to multiple witnesses.

The incident happened during what had been a contentious public comment portion where supporters of the majority Republican school board leveled accusations against Democratic candidates running in the November election.

Three witnesses who attended the school board meeting said that the altercation involved a man who had just addressed the board and the husband of a Democratic school board member.

This news organization is not identifying either man since no criminal charges were filed as of Tuesday, Doylestown Township Police Chief Dean Logan confirmed on Wednesday. On Thursday Logan added that police filed a report on the incident, but that it is considered a criminal investigation and it is not a public document under the Pennsylvania Right to Know law.

Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said Tuesday night he was not aware of the altercation, and was out of the area.

The witnesses stated that after the speaker finished his public comment, where he leveled accusations at a minority board member, he allegedly appeared to throw papers into the face of another man, who was seated in the audience.

That man then jumped up and picked up a chair, according to witnesses. Police who were stationed in the meeting room took both men out of the room.

In a phone interview late Tuesday, the husband of the school board member said he was not arrested or cited and he declined to press charges against the speaker.

The husband said that the speaker initially walked past where he was seated and then circled back and said something obscene about his wife and threw a stack of rolled up papers at him. The man said he immediately stood up and his hand got caught in the back of a chair and he lifted it and put it down.

The man who threw the papers responded to this news organization's request for comment that he appreciated that police deescalated the situation, and blamed media coverage for continuing tensions in the district, but did not directly comment on the altercation.

Another witness said she "stepped out of the way to avoid getting near (the man with the chair)." She disputes anything was said about the board member, the man's wife, during the altercation and said that the chair was picked up "to try to assault (the public speaker.)"

Video doesn't show the beginning of the altercation, but shows the man in the audience get up and pick up a chair. The audio is not clear on any verbal exchange between the men.

The school board immediately went into recess for at least 10 minutes. When the board resumed the meeting it insisted on calm, but did not address the altercation.

The board did vote to end public comment and moved forward with the agenda items; board President Dana Hunter said those individuals who did not speak would be first to speak at the October meeting.

As of Wednesday afternoon, neither the district, its solicitor Jeff Garton, or Hunter responded to an email asking if either man would be banned from future board meetings, if the district would be changing how it conducts public comment and if it would be issuing a community message about the incident.

Central Bucks School Board Meeting September 2023 from Central Bucks School District on Vimeo.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Altercation at contentious Central Bucks meeting halts public comment