Video shows the president of the Phoenix Union High School District tossing board member Jeremiah Cota from a recent meeting for reciting the prayer before giving the "land acknowledgment" – a statement recognizing current buildings, gathering places, and more are on land where indigenous groups formerly lived.
"We can't have a religious prayer before we start to read the land acknowledgement," a parliamentarian told him.
When he continued to ask the Lord to "give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," Board President Ceyshe Napa declared him "out of order" and took over to read the land acknowledgment.
Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel says the video is "shocking."
"Despite the fact that the board member who was delivering the prayer called for a point of order, they wouldn't allow it at all," he relays. "This is shocking. It's a clear violation of the First Amendment. This shows hostility towards religion."
He says this is exactly the kind of thing the First Amendment is designed to prohibit.
"I don't know where in the world this person gets this idea that they can't open up the board meeting with prayer," Staver continues. "This issue has gone before courts of appeal, the United States Supreme Court. It's clearly permissible to have a prayer. It's insensitive, frankly shocking, and unconstitutional to censor the prayer in the way that I saw it happen."
Cota says the board's actions are a violation of district policy, and he plans to pursue "any and all possible remedies" to ensure the board abides by its own rules in future meetings.
Phoenix Union High School District serves more than 28,000 students in the Phoenix, Arizona, area.
