Source: ABC 11
An anti-CRT Johnston County school board member and ex-Smithfield police detective is facing multiple charges for what the state has called “an act of personal retaliation.”
Ronald Johnson is charged with one count of felony extortion, three counts of willingly failing to discharge duties and one count of felony obstruction of justice, WTVD reported.
The extortion charge is related to an incident where Johnson attempted to “gain an advantage over a rival for elected office,” according to WTVD. The failure to discharge duties charges are due to Johnson recording a closed session of the board of education, not complying with a public records request and attempting to have two students with special needs transferred from Clayton High School, the TV station reported.
According to the state’s charging documents, the obstruction of justice charge is because Johnson took evidence from a business once he found out he was under investigation.
The case against Johnson dates back to July 2022 when it was announced that he had been suspended from the Smithfield Police Department as part of an internal investigation. A few days after the investigation was made public, Johnson sent an announcement to The JoCo Report that he would resign from the school board because he was “not in position to govern or lead.”
A little more than a week after he said he would resign, he sent another statement to The JoCo Report rescinding his resignation.
Johnson is best known for pushing forth a Johnston County school board policy that would fire or discipline teachers who taught the truth of our history in the classrooms in a deal with receiving school district funding.
The policy mirrored controversial measures by Republicans in other states that would censor teachers from educating students about race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. North Carolina now has a bill going through the legislature, House Bill 187, that closely mirrors the bills passed in states like Florida.
Johnson was given a $50,000 unsecured bond following his court appearance earlier this month.
Neither the Smithfield Police Department nor the Johnston County Board of Education directly addressed Johnson when reached by ABC11 for comment.
