St. Louis Community College Professor Tackled By Police Officer At Board Meeting

ST. LOUIS, MO — Steve Taylor didn't come looking for trouble. As an adjunct math professor, he wanted to use a meeting of the St. Louis Community College Board of Trustees to discuss contract and union negotiations, and to brag a little about a teaching excellence award he had received in January. That's not what happened.

When Taylor stood to protest a rule banning applause for speakers, he was asked to leave the meeting. 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.

Video shows Taylor voicing his protest 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 says he stumbled and was trying to regain his balance. A statement from the St. Louis Community College claims that he charged board members.

The Riverfront Times gives more details:

"He came up behind me, and I saw his left foot take my legs out from under me," says Taylor, who's taught math at the Wildwood campus for four years. "Then he full body slams me to the concrete floor and violently put my arm behind my back. I said, 'Sir, I am complying, I will go with you.'"

A spokeswoman for St. Louis Community College says that Taylor was given several warnings to leave the meeting, but that he instead "charged the table where board members and the chancellor, Dr. Jeff L. Pittman, were seated."

Watch the video and decide for yourself.

Read more from the Riverfront Times.

Image via YouTube