How Wayne County MO punished me for my 1st amendment
In April 2017 we brought you the story of the bus wreck of the Clearwater R1 School district. What I left out of the story was that I was charged with Peace Disturbance for cursing around children. I left that part out of the story because I did not want to make that story about myself. I also felt by reporting that it would hinder my defense. Now that the case is over I feel the time is right to bring my full story to the public.
The day before the accident we had the pleasure of speaking with the superintendent about the way the driver of the school bus has been driving throughout the whole school year. Where she said to us “that she personally talked with the driver and that we will have nothing to worry about because she personally took care of the matter.” So with high hope, we believed she did as she said she had done. Unfortunately, we were misled by her false promise because the very next day the driver of the school bus had an accident.
When we received the call from my brother who was 12 years old at the time that he was on the bus and that it had just crashed into a scooter his friend was on. We rushed to the scene to see if he was okay. When we arrived there I became overwhelmed with emotions. I was yelling and cursing the driver along with the Superintendent when she got on the scene. All while comforting kids who ran and jump into my arms. While holding two kids one in each arm who ran up to me crying. These kids were not mine but neighbor kids who spent a lot of time at my house playing with my brother enough times that the kids consider me family even called me “uncle Bryan.”
After a short period of time, I calmed down and started to head back to my vehicle to leave. This is where a Piedmont MO Officer was standing to direct traffic. We parked our car quite a distance away from the bus. While at my car I heard a woman who had no clue what had happened blame the driver of the scooter and by that time I already knew what happened from asking my brother. Anyways I told her that she was wrong while using some choice words.
I was then touched by the officer I turned around not realizing who he was until I turned. After a short exchange of words, the officer informed me he would ticket me I asked for what he answered “inciting a riot” That was when I decided to walk away and kinda laugh off what the officer threatened me with. As I walked away the officer said to me “cuff up”. I then stopped walking and placed my hands behind my back. The officer then placed me in the driver seat of my own SUV. After several long minutes inside a hot car. An officer from the Wayne County MO police department came up and brought me to his car where he then tickets me for “peace disturbance.”
By
Bryan Jeffers
Liberal Missourian