Saint Louis Community College Teacher Cleared Of Disturbing Peace

ST. LOUIS, MO — The Riverfront Times reports that Steve Taylor, an adjunct math professor at St. Louis Community College, has been cleared of all charges after a confrontation with trustees and police at a board meeting last October.

Taylor had come to discuss contract negotiations and speak against faculty layoffs. He didn't get the chance. During the meeting, Taylor stood to protest a rule banning applause for speakers. Applause, Taylor said, was allowed for administrators, but only became an issue during the public comment portion of the meeting. He didn't think that was fair. After voice his protest, he was asked to leave the meeting.

Video shows Taylor speaking in a center aisle when a campus police officer grabs his jacket from behind. Taylor then lurches forward and is taken to the ground by the officer. Taylor insists he stumbled and was trying to regain his balance and says he suffered a concussion in the fall. A statement from the St. Louis Community College claims that he charged board members.

Prosecutors didn't find a resisting arrest charge convincing, but a peace disturbance charge stuck. This week, a judge cleared him of that too. For now, though, he's still banned from campus as his lawsuit against the college, its vice chairman Rodney Gee, and the police officer that tackled him works its way through court.

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