Melee At School Board Meeting: Member Says He Was 'Assaulted'

OAK FOREST, IL — A confrontation at a school board meeting in Oak Forest Tuesday night was partially caught on camera and included an accusation by one board member that he was assaulted. A group of men showed up at the Bremen High School District 228 Board of Education meeting at Oak Forest High School and confronted board member Larry Canning, according to a report from the Daily Southtown. The Southtown shared a video of the incident that showed several men engaged in a heated verbal exchange and Canning proclaiming he was "assaulted."

Canning told the Southtown one of the men gave him a "two-fisted punch" to the chest during the confrontation, which began while Mark Johnson, another board member, was speaking negatively about Canning in a political manner.

Police responded to the scene, and the meeting continued. A Facebook post from the Parents for Progress 228 group indicated someone was arrested for the assault on Canning, but Oak Forest police have not released any details regarding the incident.

RELATED: 3 Re-Elected to Bremen Board

The Southtown reports children were in the audience during the confrontation. Among the audience members was the first Tinley Park High School student accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy, according to Tina Kessens, the woman who recorded the video and shared it with the Southtown.

In the video, a group of men wearing leather vests are shown standing and approaching the board seats. Canning is also standing and shouting back. Here, the Bremen School District shared the entire meeting on YouTube. The confrontation begins shortly after the 30:00 mark of the video.

"That man assaulted me. That man assaulted me," Canning shouted, pointing to one of the men who confronted him.

Prior to the confrontation, a YouTube video of the full meeting shows Canning referring to both Johnson and board president Deborah Stearns as idiots.

“You are a liar and an absolute disgrace to (District) 228,” Canning shouted while interrupting Johnson’s time on the floor. “You’re an idiot. I called Mark Johnson an idiot and the voters need to know that.”

In addressing Stearns, Canning said: “You are an absolute idiot as well. You don’t know how to run a meeting.”

Addressing Stearns that way is what presumably triggered the men in the audience to confront him.

“A real man would respect a woman,” one of the men said.

The video does not show a clear assault, but two of the men did get within inches of Canning. Canning referred to the assault as "a double-fisted push" in an interview with Oak Forest Patch Thursday.

At least one of the men at the meeting was shown attempting to separate the two irate parties.

Canning referred to the group at the meeting as “a lynch mob for Debi Stearns.”

He said that it's this same group of people that show up "periodically" to meetings as a way to intimidate him.

"They sit in front of me, and I firmly believe that the board president is involved with that," he said, noting that photos on the Parents for Progress Facebook page have shown some in the group as having attended fundraisers for Stearns in the past.

"The president is not controlling the board," Canning said. "She is allowing political attacks. If she had controlled the board this may not have resulted."

Canning says that while the group shows up periodically, it is usually when Stearns "fells she isn't getting her way."

Stearns blamed Canning for the incident.

"Adults should act like adults," she told the Southtown. "I think the whole thing could have been avoided if Mr. Canning let Mr. Johnson speak... Mark felt he had a right to let constituents know what kind of person Larry is."

more via the Daily Southtown

Photo via YouTube screenshot