A New Hampshire dad of a teenage girl was arrested for protesting against the assigning of a book in his daughter's syllabus.
The book in question is Jodi Picoult's "Nineteen Minutes." According to an Huffington Post report, William Baer, the father of a teen who attends Gilford High School opposed the assigning of the book because it contained a graphic sex scene between two teenagers. What fuelled Baer's disconnect was the fact that the school hasn't notified any of the parents about the assigning.
"You are going to arrest me because I violated the two-minute rule?" Baer asked at the meeting after he was reprimanded for speaking for longer than the allotted time, according to WCVB video. "I guess you are going to have to arrest me."
Baer was handcuffed and escorted off the school premise and is reportedly being charged for disorderly conduct. The school said the book has being assigned to students in the past but this year, teachers forgot to notify the parents.
Though Baer was the only one to be arrested, other parents also disapproved of the assigning without their consent first.
"I am utterly appalled that this was an oversight, that my son had this book in his hand for a week. (It's) unacceptable," said Sarah Carrigan, a parent, according to WCVB.
The school board later issued a statement, apologizing for the unfortunate incident.
"The board apologizes for the discomfort of those impacted and for the failure of the school district to send home prior notice of assignment of the novel. ... The district will take immediate action to revise these policies," the school official said, according to WMUR.
The arrest has not gone down well with Baer who said that his First Amendment rights were violated and plans to "fight his arrest."