School Board Won't Censure Member Charged with Blocking Attendees, Trespassing at Trump Event

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at Briar Woods High School, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016, in Ashburn, Va. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Joy Maloney, a member of the Broad Run District School Board in Virginia, was charged with trespassing when she tried to prevent Donald Trump supporters from entering Briar Woods High School to attend a political rally.

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According to Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kraig Troxell, around 8:45 a.m., deputies assigned to the event were made aware that an adult female interfered with the line waiting to get inside. Maloney, 45, of Broadlands, reportedly stepped in front of several attendees waiting to go inside. She was asked to go back in line. She refused to do so before and then sat on the ground.

Organizers then revoked her ticket and she continued to refuse to leave.

Maloney, wearing a “Love Trumps Hate” sticker, was charged with trespassing and taken into custody. A magistrate released her on a $1,000 unsecured bond.

Last night an effort to censure Maloney for her behavior failed during a vote at the school board meeting.

During the board’s meeting, Eric DeKenipp (Catoctin) and Jill Turgeon (Blue Ridge) voted to adopt a resolution that expressed strong disapproval of Maloney’s arrest at the Aug. 2 Donald Trump campaign rally at Briar Woods High School. Maloney was charged with trespassing after allegedly refusing to leave after having her ticket revoked, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

Maloney is scheduled to appear in Loudoun County District Court tomorrow. If convicted, she could face up to 12 months in jail and a fine up to $2,500.

The vote had two supporters, DeKenipp and Turgeon. Maloney abstained and the other members voted against the proposal.

Maloney denied she was preventing people from attending the Trump rally.

“We work, attend school, dine, shop, and play together. We must remain civil towards each other to thrive as a community,” she said. “I will continue to serve our community as best I know how. I will continue to fight for our community’s deeply held values of inclusion and the benefit of diversity of our students and staff, in addition to my other efforts to continuously improve our kids’ education. And I will always to try to set an example that you can be proud of. Sometimes, we may disagree on what that is.”

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Ironically, one resident accused the members seeking Maloney’s censure of being bullies.  “This bullying is not what I expect of you as a school board. It’s not what students expect,” he said. “I don’t know why you’re doing it, whether it’s personal or political.”

The school board also suppressed discussion of Maloney’s arrest at the August 9 meeting when the members voted against discussing it.

DeKenipp said, “When a school board member willfully refuses to follow police orders on school property in front of thousands, and as a result was literally dragged to a police car, that is a concern of the board. I was elected on a platform of accountability, and tonight I’m here to hold one of my own to account.”

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