A man who defends Critical Race Theory (CRT) was escorted by police from a Fort Worth Independent School District board meeting after he told parents opposed to CRT he had “soldiers ready to go” who were “locked and loaded.”

Malikk Austin, said at the board meeting held on November 9 he had “over a thousand soldiers ready to go” who were “locked and loaded” to support CRT, according to Fox News.

A member of the Brotherhood Movement, which he described as a “Second Amendment group,” Austin said at the board meeting, “For those who got an issue with this Critical Race Theory equity, this is something I fight for, for my children.”

He added:

How dare you come out here and talk about the things that my daddy and my grandparents went through, the lynching, the oppression, Jim Crow, and my kids are still being afflicted by this.

We are not our ancestors. I got over 1,000 soldiers ready to go.

Parents like Hollie Plemmons, a stay-at-home mother, told Fox News she “absolutely” felt “threatened” by Austin’s words.

“I’m scared and I’m afraid he’s going to do something,” she said.

School board meeting attendees shouted at Austin to address the board, and not the audience, but he reacted by stating, “My First Amendment rights!”

Plemmons offered to speak with Austin, but he told her, “You’re not intelligent, you are not intelligent.”

After his one minute to speak was ended, officers escorted Austin out of the room as he shouted, “I’ll bring my soldiers with me next time … locked and loaded.”

Plemmons said the board should have stopped Austin from shouting at the audience, and that its decision to allow him to continue speaking was a “double standard,” since the board is supportive of CRT.

“Everyone there felt threatened,” said Carol Guarneri, a grandmother of children in the district, also told Fox News. She added Austin had attended a prior school board meeting wearing “tactical gear,” a description that was confirmed by parent Missie Carra, Texas director of Parents’ Rights in Education, who was not at the November 9 meeting but watched the video.

“This gentleman was profoundly angry, he was not putting on a performance,” Guarneri said. “When he made the statement that he had his thousand soldiers and they’d be back locked and loaded, it was very frightening to me.”

“I was thinking about calling my husband and having him come to the parking lot because I was afraid to come to my car,” she added.

Carra told Fox News watching the video of Austin’s rant caused her to feel threatened.

“Let’s be honest, in my opinion, when anyone turns toward an audience of mothers and yells ‘I have 1,000 people’ & ‘we’re locked and loaded,’ it is difficult to misconstrue the intent of those words as anything else but a threat,” she said.

A report at the Daily Mail indicated Austin’s legal name is Edgar Austin and he is a registered Democrat with a criminal record.

“In 2004, he was convicted of public lewdness … in 2009, he was sentenced to prison for assaulting a family member … in 1993, Austin was sentenced to prison for sexual assault,” the report stated. “He served three years behind bars.”

Fox News reported Austin insisted he was not threatening anyone.

“First Amendment rights, freedom of speech, need to be implemented,” he said, adding that “locked and loaded” is “a term I used when I coached football. It means, ‘prepare and get ready.’”

Carlos Turcios, a member of the local Republican Party and organizer of the parent protest at the school board meeting, described Austin as a “leftwing militia activist,” and said he “threatened all of us since we were criticizing the practice of CRT.”

“I felt threatened as well since he is part of an armed group,” Turcios said.

Fox News reported a spokesman from the Fort Worth Police Department said, “To the best of my knowledge, our office wasn’t made aware of any reports being made” regarding threats by Austin.

Austin said he had not been contacted by law enforcement and does not expect to be arrested, the Daily Mail reported.

“I’ve been to school board meetings for quite some time,” he said.

According to that report, Austin’s Facebook page indicates he works as an installation technician at Centennial Moisture Control, a “full service waterproofing and restoration company” located in Irving, Texas.

Additionally, the Daily Mail noted that, although Austin states he is still a member of the Brotherhood Movement, a spokesperson for that group said he has “moved on” from that organization which, he stated, does not promote or advocate for violence. He added the group is focused on its Second Amendment right to bear arms.