Evan Cobb, Daily Herald file photo
The Alpine School District Education Center is pictured on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in American Fork.
Aaron Davidson, the lone Republican candidate to be the next Utah County clerk, was convicted of of disorderly conduct on July 1 for his actions at an Alpine School Board of Education meeting April 27, 2021.
The Alpine School Board meeting in question was held at the ASD Education Center in American Fork. According to previous reporting by the Daily Herald, members of the public were asked to attend the meeting remotely in accordance with directives regarding social distancing. A sign was taped to the building door to inform anyone who attempted to come to the meeting in person.
Members of the public, including Davidson, came to protest the meeting regarding the statewide mask mandate that was in place for K-12 schools.
A bench trial was conducted May 5 and May 12 to review the events that occurred at the board meeting.
According to court documents, ASD Director of Operations Michael Browning and “others” testified that ASD set up a protest zone outside the district offices for members of the public. The protest zone was not at the office entrance where Davidson and the other protesters were located.
Rick Bowmer, Associated Press
Republican candidate for Utah County Clerk, Aaron Davidson, speaks during a tour of Utah County’s elections equipment and review processes for administering secure elections Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in Provo.
Davidson told the Daily Herald he and other protesters didn’t even notice the area set up by the district.
“That’s basically unconstitutional,” Davidson said. “You can’t set rules about expressing your First Amendment rights. None of us were notified of it, and we weren’t there as protesters. It wasn’t a protest to start with. It was parents showing up to a school board meeting.”
Court documents show that, at some point during the incident, Davidson called 911 to have law enforcement assist him in gaining entrance to the building.
“A testimony at trial from Sgt. Lunt of the American Fork Police Department clearly established that Davidson called 911 solely because he believed the meeting violated Utah’s Open and Public Meeting Act,” reads the document.
A copy of a Facebook Live was reviewed in court, showing Davidson using an electronic bullhorn to tell the group he had called 911 for assistance but his request was denied by law enforcement. Davidson then directed or incited the group to “disrupt the meeting” by “pounding on the windows” and to “make a disturbance to get someone from ASD to come out here,” according to court documents.
Davidson alleged that the school board members testified they didn’t hear the knocking, only two other district employees. He believes this is why the class B misdemeanor charge — disrupting a meeting — was dropped against him and another protester, Cedar Hills resident Brittany Lindsey.
According to court documents, Lindsey’s charges of disorderly conduct and disrupting a meeting were dismissed with prejudice on June 28.
“They drop the misdemeanor and never said why, but I could assume because there was no disruption of the meeting. We felt like we were just exercising out first amendment rights and went to speak. The mask mandate was done. The health department had dropped it, so there was no reason to have to doors locked. They said it was locked because of health concerns and safety, two ambiguous terms,” Davidson said.
Court documents read that several ASD employees stated they were concerned, terrified and upset when they heard the pounding on the windows of the building.
Weeks after the April 27 meeting, the ASD changed board meetings to be held remotely due to “a substantial risk to the safety of staff and those attending,” noting that “following the board meeting two weeks ago various staff members, as they left their job, were followed to their cars by some of these protesters and they were yelled at and harassed on the way to their cars,” the Daily Herald reported.
A female ASD employee testified that she witnessed an ASD employee being physically assaulted at a prior meeting by a member of the public, which made her more concerned by the actions of the protesters on April 27.
Davidson said the guilty charge was ridiculous, and he is “looking at other legal processes to appeal” and others that he didn’t want to reveal.
Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Roger Griffin scheduled Davidson’s sentencing hearing for 9:30 a.m. on July 29.
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- The Alpine School District Education Center is pictured on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, in American Fork.
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- Republican candidate for Utah County Clerk, Aaron Davidson, speaks during a tour of Utah County’s elections equipment and review processes for administering secure elections Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in Provo.