Outburst in committee hearing equates curbing porn in schools to being 'burned at the stake'
Woman who yelled out is a known anti-Trump activist
During the House Rules, Calendar, and Operations Committee meeting yesterday a woman yelled out from the gallery during discussion of House Bill 636, titled "Promoting Wholesome Content for Students."
The outburst was caught on video by Reverend John Amanchukwu, who has traveled around North Carolina and across the country speaking out against sexually graphic books.
It can be a little hard to hear what the woman says, but as she heads for the door, she seems to say “what’s next… are you going to be burning women at the stake.” As she leaves, she yells, “I’ll bring my own matches!”
As she yelled, the committee chair reminded the gallery not to interrupt or they will be escorted out of the room. We’ll come back to this woman in a moment.
For those who may not know him, More To The Story has referred to Amanchukwu’s activism a few times in the past.
Amanchukwu also spoke at a press conference ahead of the bill being heard by committee.
What the bill does
The bill establishes procedures for regulating library media materials in K-12 public schools and applies to all library media - defined as any materials for independent use by students outside the standard curriculum - including books, digital resources, and visual materials. It would apply to existing library collections and extend to materials offered at school book fairs.
HB 636 requires school districts to create a "community library advisory committee" composed of 5 parents and 5 school employees to evaluate all library materials. The committee must ensure materials support learning, meet quality standards, and are age-appropriate.
Materials containing "descriptions or visual depictions of sexual activity" or considered "pervasively vulgar" would be prohibited.
During the committee meeting, Rep. Allison Dahl (D-Wake) objected to the bill and voted against it. In her comments, she said the description of “pervasively vulgar” was considered “overly broad” by librarians who reached out to her.
The bill establishes a review process where recommendations from the committee are posted publicly online, allowing parents, teachers, or county residents to submit objections. If 10 or more objections are received for any material, it triggers further review. The bill also requires the State Board of Education to maintain a public database of all rejected library materials.
Additionally, the legislation creates a private right of action allowing parents, guardians, or county residents to sue school districts for violations, with potential damages of $5,000 per violation plus attorney fees.
House Bill 636 focuses only on libraries and committees reviewing books and it does have some overlap with House Bill 595. I wrote about both of these bills last week for North State Journal.
The bill passed the committee with a favorable report and is on today’s House calendar along with over a dozen other bills for their second and third readings.
More To The Story
The video of the outburst caught my eye on X when the NC House Press account posted about it. Whomever is running the NC House Press account on X knows their memes.
I watched the video several times, because the woman looked familiar. Turns out, I did know who she was. Her name is Elena Ceberio and she was/is one of the leaders of Triangle Indivisible.
Her identity as the yelling woman was confirmed by her own Facebook post.
And was further confirmed by a comment on the post made by Rep. Julie von Haefen (D-Wake).
I first came across Ceberio during President Trump’s first term when she and members of Triangle Indivisible showed up to a march 2017 rally in Raleigh in support of Trump.
While there, she and the other activists tried to encircle the rally goers using a large spool of paper, representing Trump’s border wall. It was intended to mock the rally-goers, but it had the opposite effect with the attendees cheering and chanting “build that wall!”
After the paper wall stunt, media outlets interviewed Ceberio. Here’s some of the footage I and a colleague captured:
The “empty chair” town halls that took place that year were also orchestrated in part by Indivisible groups. Here’s Ceberio leading one in Cary in February 2017.
Ceberio’s activism has also included attending Moral Monday protests and she was arrested at one such protest that occurred in May 2017.
Following her arrest at Moral Monday, in June of that year Ceberio led a protest at the Crabtree Marriott on Glenwood avenue. The protest occurred while the Civitas Conservative Leadership conference was happening inside the hotel.