Missouri Jan. 6 rioter has no business on school board or any other public office | Opinion
A St. Joseph woman who admitted to breaking into the U.S. Capitol as part of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection is running for a seat on the St. Joseph School District board of education. Good grief.
Only a felony conviction could preclude Kimberly Dragoo from running for public office, and she has been charged with a misdemeanor. But anybody who admits to parading, demonstrating or stealing and smashing property inside one of our most sacred public institutions that frightful day has no business setting public policy. None.
This week, The Star’s Eric Adler wrote a fascinating piece on Dragoo filing paperwork Dec. 26 to run for school board in a district about 30 miles northwest of Kansas City. As musician Randy Jackson famously said on “American Idol,” “That’ll be a no for me, dog.”
In April’s election, voters in St. Joseph must reject this candidate or any other who agrees with the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Anarchy shouldn’t be celebrated but condemned.
Ten candidates are vying for three seats on St. Joseph’s seven-member school board, Adler wrote. Dragoo is among them. Dragoo and her husband, Steven, pleaded guilty in August for participating in the Capitol riot.
Both were originally charged with four misdemeanors but each pleaded guilty to a single count, The Star reported in August. The couple faces up to six months in jail, a $5,000 fine and five years’ probation. Sentencing is scheduled Jan. 26 in federal court.
Although a misdemeanor conviction doesn’t prevent Dragoo from running for public office, avoiding jail time should be her main focus, not a school board race. But here we are.
In a Facebook post announcing her candidacy, Dragoo wrote: “Okay Patriots. I signed up to run for the school board today.”
Dragoo’s own husband photographed her breaking into the Capitol, for crying out loud. She is anything but a patriot.
I searched Dragoo’s public Facebook page long and hard for any sort of contrition. Remorse was hard to find.
“Believe me, it’s not something I wanted or planned on doing,” Dragoo told Adler. “I knew the controversy that would follow, but this election is way too important for the future of our community. It’s bigger than me.”
If she truly believes that, Dragoo should reconsider her candidacy. The stakeholders there don’t deserve the controversy that will surely follow this announcement.
Perhaps St. Joseph School Board vice president Kenneth Reeder put it best, telling Adler: “For the next 91 days it’s going to be a s---show here in St. Joseph.”
Reeder, a lobbyist and Republican, is spot on.
This story was originally published January 5, 2024 at 11:23 AM.
