Police in the Penobscot County town of Lincoln are investigating after a Wednesday altercation at a school board meeting led to a member slapping a phone out of an activist’s hand.
The meeting adjourned abruptly after Tim Bodnar, a right-wing activist who hosts a podcast on the social media site X under the moniker “Truth Slinger,” called out a teacher over alleged comments made about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was killed last week.
Bodnar berated school board members for not taking action against the employee. A shouting match between him and board member Anthony Funaro boiled over until Funaro swatted Bodnar’s recording phone from his hand.
In a video of the moment shared by Bodnar, police can be seen separating the two men.
“The Lincoln Police Department is aware of the incident that occurred during the school board meeting last night,” Police Chief Lee Miller said in a statement on Thursday.
“At this time, the incident is under investigation and remains ongoing.”
He added that the department could not comment further on the active investigation. Bodnar said on his Thursday show that he was filing a report on the incident with local police.
Daniel O’Connor is a Report for America corps member who covers rural government as part of the partnership between the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor, with additional support from BDN and Monitor readers.
