Petition seeks removal of Fresno County school board member who was at Capitol insurrection
Hundreds have signed an online petition calling for the removal of James Hoak as a Sierra Unified School District board member because of his participation in the U.S. Capitol insurrection.
“The community is outraged a Trustee would participate in an act of White Supremacy and Treason,” a change.org petition made by a Claudia J. reads. “We demand he be removed from his position at Sierra Unified School District. Decisions that impact children, especially children of color, should not be made by a White Supremacist.”
Hoak declined to comment Sunday about the petition when contacted by The Fresno Bee.
The petition was signed by more than 800 people as of Sunday afternoon, less than a day after it was made. Its organizer also asked people to attend a virtual Sierra Unified meeting Monday evening to push for the newly elected board member’s resignation from the rural school district in eastern Fresno County.
Sierra Unified shared the Zoom link to that upcoming 6 p.m. board meeting in response to concerns about Hoak posted on the district’s Facebook page. A district spokesperson also told people that “concerns can be directly voiced to Sierra Unified School District via phone at 559.855.3662 or email.”
Hoak told The Bee on Thursday that he stayed on the balcony while the Capitol building was being breached.
“I don’t condone breaking and entering,” Hoak said then. “I don’t condone breaking into any building.”
His comments in now-deleted videos that he livestreamed from the Capitol on Wednesday had a different tone.
“This is what it looks like when you storm the Capitol and it is not burning down yet,” Hoak told his followers in one video.
He captioned one video with the share text, “Chaos at the Nation’s Capital! Share now!” a screenshot shared on the change.org petition shows. The video was shared on his Facebook page, where Hoak’s profile photo is a person dressed as President-elect Joe Biden wearing jail clothes, as young children in costumes appear to be trick-or-treating nearby.
Hoak said he was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday as a member of the media to attend the rally in support of President Donald Trump.
In May, Hoak was among the group that confronted Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias at his home regarding business closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hoak has posted videos to various channels with right-wing Frontline America, run by social media personality Ben Bergquam.
This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 5:26 PM.
