Dean Paterakis said he had held his silence long enough and Tuesday was his breaking point. 

"Honestly, what they did to me is absolutely wrong. It was against my constitutional rights," said Paterakis.

  • Constantine Paterakis arrested after officials say he disrupted school board meeting
  • Members of School Board told him his comments were inappropiate
  • Paterakis says he still intends to run for School Board

His outburst during public comment at the Brevard County School Board meeting landed him in jail. Deputies quickly removed him, but Wednesday he shared what he had to get off of his chest. 

"During my three minutes, I had brought up the issue with a teacher that showed his erect penis to a classroom of students at a high school a couple years back and he is still employed," said Paterakis. 

But Paterakis claims he's not the one who started the disruption and he blames Chairman Andy Ziegler. 

"They charged me with disrupting a school board meeting but as you can see from the video, it’s School Boardmember Andy Ziegler who disrupts the school board meeting," said Paterakis. 

"I said if the conversation wasn't appropriate to be had at a school then it wouldn't be an acceptable conversation to be had at that meeting," Andy Ziegler. 

Ziegler said he wasn't happy with his word choice and said what Paterakis claims happened with that teacher did not happen in the manner he mentioned. 

"He started to speak in what I thought was an aggressive demeanor and started talking about things that was just barely crossing the line and there was a room full of students," said Ziegler. 

Paterakis refused to leave, at one point falling to the ground and being dragged out by deputies. He continued to yell at the school board as he was escorted out.

Meanwhile, members of the crowd were cheering him on, yelling “let him speak.”


Brevard County Sheriff's deputies escorted Dean Paterakis from the Tuesday night School Board meeting.

But the school district spokesperson said it was unacceptable behavior and called this one of the worst disruptions. 

Paterakis is running for school board for the fifth time, for district 4, and believes he’s standing up for children's safety. 

"I think this will really backfire on the powers to be," said Paterakis. 

Paterakis bonded out on a $1,000 bond. He has a hearing on the case on June 20.

The Brevard County School Board narrowly approved moving forward with the LGBT protections in the district’s nondiscrimination policy. A public hearing is set for July.