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20 <br /> the need to have this discussion. She read a quote from President Truman. She said this must <br /> be where Orange County feels they are — in a period of increasing difficulty and danger. She <br /> asked that in 2022 is preventing students from witnessing a peaceful protest with messages <br /> they think are wrong, justification for abridging first amendment rights. <br /> David Ogden asked how one person gathers. He said it is true that the superintendents <br /> are creative. He said they made up reverse pre-crime where you can create an ordinance to <br /> that would have caused arrests had the ordinance previously been in place. He said they want <br /> to prevent hate speech. He said they know they cannot prevent type of speech, so they instead <br /> are suppressing all speech. He said that when you hold a group back, you are creating a <br /> situation where neither you nor them can be free. He said that this would make it illegal for <br /> parents to gather and protest racial injustices. He said many teachers have LGBT and BLM <br /> flags in their classrooms and these flags represent causes, issues, and actions that are being <br /> promoted by teachers. He said that under this ordinance, they have to be taken down because <br /> this will silence all speech. He said each commissioner has the right to peacefully assemble but <br /> maybe they don't value it because they are now on that side of the bench. He asked them not <br /> to table this ordinance but to instead put it to rest forever. <br /> Patricia Randall said that article 1 of the NC Constitution gives sovereignty to the people <br /> and all government originates from the people. She said that no laws were broken with the <br /> protests and there is no reason to pass this ordinance to control the people of the county. <br /> Lanna Spiegel said that the school board is trying to take away the voice of parents. She <br /> read from several comments against the ordinance. She asked why the ordinance is a priority <br /> when Grady Brown does not even have doors on all classrooms. She asked when <br /> commissioners gained the right to allow rights to some and not for others. She said that <br /> ordinances that control people's first amendment rights are communist. She said that there are <br /> many citizens that oppose the ordinance and asked if the commissioners hear their voices. <br /> Mark Stiles gave up his time. <br /> Heather Redding said she is a resident of Orange County. She said her comments are <br /> related to how the ordinance could impact protests at school board meetings. She said that she <br /> believes that laws do not have to be broken for harm to occur. She said that when the Proud <br /> Boys gathered the language that they shouted was troubling. She said when they came to a <br /> school board meeting and sat in their colors, it was equally troubling. She said the school board <br /> dragged its feet to ban the confederate flag from its schools and that was troubling. She said <br /> that this ordinance would stop groups from gathering peacefully. She said that if school board <br /> meetings were to take place in this building, it would ban all protests because there is a public <br /> playground less than a block away. She said that this ordinance would prohibit the right to <br /> protest and this erosion would further propaganda and disrupt progressive change. She said <br /> that this is not the time to stop the right to peacefully assemble. <br /> Larry Tippens said that he thinks they have lost something. He said that protesting goes <br /> back to Germany, when you could post a note to challenge the school. He said that what they <br /> are destroying and crippling is the ability to speak pro and con at the family level or at the <br /> school. He said that if you are not talking at home, then there are problems. <br /> Edward Zabolsky said he was not planning to speak until the school board decided to <br /> make him a criminal. He said that he lives next to the high school and they have a 25-foot <br /> easement that they maintain. He said there is then woods, parking lot, farm animals, and the <br /> school. He said that the Board has now proposed that he can be a protest of one person just by <br /> wearing a shirt that someone does not agree with. He said there are ordinances and laws <br /> protecting schools and entrances. He said to make an ordinance for a problem that does not <br /> exist seems like a waste of time. <br /> Chair Price asked Commissioner Hamilton to restate her petition. <br />