Defying repeated entreaties from chair Nancy Crawford to remain silent, spectators cheered when listening to Del Grande, Tanuan, and two guest delegates’ statements supporting the motion. And when Angela Kennedy signaled her intent to vote against the motion early into her prepared remarks, she was drowned out by protests. One male attendee continually uttered: “We answer to Jesus Christ.”
Crawford concurred that “we do answer to Jesus Christ,” but she told the man he must be quiet or he would be escorted from the building by security. Attendees ignored the warning and the objections continued, forcing Crawford to pause the meeting for 10 minutes to calm the situation.
Upon resuming the proceedings, Crawford appealed to the audience’s “sense of kindness, charity, and generosity” not to interrupt the meeting again, saying otherwise it would lead to the call for security to remove everyone from the gallery.
The crowd initially complied, remaining silent as Kennedy gave her speech and trustee Maria Rizzo delivered her dissent to the motion.
However, the tension in the room elevated when trustees voted against the motion. Those disappointed by the outcome admonished the board by repeatedly shouting “shame,” and Crawford ordered security to escort all the visitors from the building as “they are not prepared to remain silent.”
The speeches in favor or against flying the pro-life flag were overshadowed to an extent by the controversy surrounding the audience’s conduct. Nevertheless, both sides conveyed passionate arguments.