‘UNWARRANTED CHARGES’

Glenn Youngkin Pardons Man Arrested at 2021 School Board Meeting

Scott Smith was taken into custody after lashing out over the fact that his daughter was sexually assaulted at a local school.

Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin pardoned a man Friday who was arrested after causing a disturbance at a Loudoun County school board meeting in 2021. The incident began when Scott Smith, the father of a local student, was taken into custody after lashing out over the fact that his daughter was sexually assaulted in a school bathroom in Ashburn, Virginia. He was ultimately charged with obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct for the outburst and convicted later that year, though the conviction was dropped and Smith received a suspended sentence of just 10 days in jail, according to WJLA-TV. The incident quickly became a flashpoint in the country’s educational culture wars. “Scott Smith is a dedicated parent who’s faced unwarranted charges in his pursuit to protect his daughter. Scott’s commitment to his child despite the immense obstacles is emblematic of the parental empowerment movement that started in Virginia,” Youngkin wrote in a statement accompanying the pardon.