Rising Tensions At Lincoln, Maine School Board Meeting Lead To Board Member Slapping Phone From Man’s Hand

Tensions have been high in the community of Lincoln, Maine. Parents of some students who attend Mattanawcook Academy were met by members of the Lincoln Police Department last Friday and denied entry to the school.

They said they were there to discuss concerns they had regarding alleged comments made by one of the teachers in the wake of the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

While they were not allowed to enter the school, the group of parents did receive an invitation to speak with the Superintendent of RSU 67, Chris Downing, that day.

Downing later released a statement on the school district's Facebook Page saying that the district would be investigating the incident and that school officials did not believe there was an active safety threat to students at the school

"The RSU No. 67 administration is aware of a recent incident involving an RSU No. 67 employee that has received significant attention. We are actively reviewing the matter and carefully considering the next steps."

Wednesday evening, at a planned public meeting of the RSU 67 School board, many parents with students who attend M.A. were present and signed up to speak before the board and voice their concerns.

The meeting was also livestreamed on the RSU 67 YouTube Channel.

The school resource officer and a pair of Lincoln police officers were also present at the meeting.

Parents in attendance say the meeting began, and the superintendent immediately asked to go into executive session, so the school board, superintendent, and an attorney excused themselves into another room.

During this time, Tim Bodnar of Newport, who goes by the handle TruthSlinger X, came up for the meeting, and became very vocal, causing a commotion.

Several parents asked Bodnar to quiet down, and he complied; the meeting then resumed as the school board returned from their breakout session.

Ten parents signed up to speak. All ten were allotted 3 minutes for public comment and advised to keep things polite and civil, to refrain from personal attacks or using names.

Bodnar was the last to speak, and he became animated and disrespectful, so the school board called a brief recess and left the room.

If you watch the livestream back, at 1:01:55, things start to heat up a bit, and not in a good way.

When they returned to the meeting, once again, the school board members attempted to move on to the next item of business, but a couple of community members in attendance, including Bodnar, protested, saying more people wanted to make comments, despite the public comment forum having come to an end.

They cited Roberts' Rules (a widely adopted procedure in many municipal and parliamentary organizations, which are supposed to ensure fairness through concepts like allowing only one topic at a time, maintaining decorum and courtesy throughout discussions, and making sure everyone has had a chance to speak or participate).

One community member went up to the podium uninvited and began to speak, at which point the Lincoln PD asked the gentleman to leave and began to escort him out. That's when Bodnar got up and started filming the room with his phone, shouting at the School Board members and making another scene.

At this point, the school board members, realizing they weren't going to be able to proceed, just started to get up and leave. There was an exchange between an obviously frustrated Andrew Funaro (RSU School board member, term ending in 2027) and Bodnar, who were arguing about what was applicable, actual policy or Roberts Rules, where Funaro told the man he should "go back down south and get some more clicks on your YouTube."

The mood in the room became very tense, and the microphones to the feed cut out for a little bit, but you can see Bodnar walk around the entire table, recording the conversations being had. While still exchanging words with a now standing Funaro, Truthslinger X crossed in front of Funaro, his phone directly in front of Funaro's face, and Funaro bats it away, smacking the phone out of the man's hand.

The room quickly erupted, and the Lincoln PD immediately moved to separate the men and remove Funaro from the premises.

Here is the video from Bodnar's perspective.

In the Livestream that appeared on YouTube, Bodnar can be heard in the very last seconds telling police, "That was assault. I want to press charges on him."

We reached out to the Lincoln Police Department to see where things stand, and were told there would be no comment at this time, but to expect a press release in the near future.