Two women who filed a complaint in a criminal investigation of books in Granbury ISD libraries told NBC 5 Investigates they only submitted it at the suggestion of the deputy constable leading the investigation.
Monica Brown and Karen Lowery, who both are vocal advocates behind a push to remove books they deemed inappropriate from school libraries, made the criminal complaint to Hood County Precinct 4 Deputy Constable Scott London in May 2022.
In an August 2022 interview with NBC 5 Investigates, London indicated his book investigation was simply a response to a complaint he received and gave no indication he approached the women first.
“If a crime is reported to any law enforcement agency, I would expect the law enforcement agency to investigate the crime,” he said.
In an email, Karen Lowery, who is now a Granbury ISD school board member, told NBC 5 Investigates London sought her and Monica Brown out after hearing them speak about the books at a Republican club event.
“Constable London initiated the contact with us and brought up the potential criminal violations,” Lowery wrote in an email to NBC 5 Investigates. “I did not consider a criminal charge as the objective and never attempted to contact police.”
Lowery went on to write, “Constable London asked if we would be the complainant on the original report. Monica and I agreed to do so believing we should support law enforcement.”
Brown told NBC 5 Investigates via email she agreed with Lowery’s statements.
When asked about the women’s timeline of events in December 2022, London acknowledged he had contacted Brown after hearing her speak about the books at a local Republican club gathering, and that the two then met with him at his office.
“After reviewing the (pornography) statute with them, they believed there was a case and filed the report,” London told NBC 5 Investigates in a message. London said he could not discuss the details of the case because it is an open criminal investigation.
BEFORE THE INVESTIGATION
London’s social media history seems to indicate his interest in the school book controversy began at least five weeks before the criminal complaint was filed and a formal investigation began.
In a Facebook post dated March 24, 2022, London shared photos of books that had been ordered removed from school libraries in January by Granbury ISD Superintendent Jeremy Glenn.
“Anyone with a little money in their pocket can buy these books, but our schools should not be providing them to our students,” London wrote in his post. He ended with, “Thank you, Dr. Glenn.”
Earlier in March, a district committee appointed to review the content of 131 books removed from school libraries chose to bar three of the books featured in London’s post from returning to shelves. The committee indicated the other five books shown had previously been banned by the district. The majority of the group decided to put 116 of the books back into circulation at school libraries.
Just six days before London launched his investigation, he made a post on Facebook writing, “When you learn what books are available to 11 year olds (sic), courtesy of GISD, if you’re not offended and enraged, there’s something wrong with you. If a civilian were to talk to a child like this, you would be suspected of grooming and pedophilia.”
London told NBC 5 Investigates he believed he made that post after the topic came up at a Republican club meeting.
CONSTABLE WEIGHS IN
London was not the only Hood County law enforcement officer to wade into the book debate.
In a YouTube video posted by a local conservative talk show on May 1, 2022, Hood County Constable John Shirley suggested crimes may have been committed by people who served on the district’s review committee. Shirley is the elected constable for Hood County Precinct 2, which is a different area from the precinct London serves.
“The non-educator members of those committees who voted to put those books back on the shelves, guess what buddy?” Shirley asked on ‘The Blue Shark Show.’ “Think about it. You may have just broken the law.”
He urged Granbury ISD to “get those books out of the library today.”
Brown and Lowery, who were both a part of the book review committee, have both said they disagreed with the committees’ decision to restore the majority of the books.
They filed the criminal complaint with London on May 2, 2022, one day after the video featuring Shirley was posted, however, Lowery and Brown indicated to NBC 5 Investigates that they were not aware of Shirley’s comments.
NBC 5 Investigates attempted to contact Shirley, including at a Granbury ISD board meeting he attended, but Shirley has declined to answer questions.
Shirley has drawn attention in Granbury as a former high-ranking leader of the Oath Keepers, the far-right group founded by Stewart Rhodes, the Granbury man convicted of seditious conspiracy in the attack on the U.S. Capitol. In public comments, Shirley has said he left the Oath Keepers six weeks before the attack because he disagreed with Rhodes over the direction of the organization.
NBC 5 Investigates’ series, "Against All Enemies," explores the connections some Hood County officials have to a group with ties to the Oath Keepers that has trained law enforcement officers around Texas. Watch a preview now:
FEAR IN THE COMMUNITY
Some members of the community said they were stunned to see constables speak out publicly about the books or open an investigation.
“This idea of law enforcement almost becoming these activists, right, to push a certain agenda forward? You’ve got to step up and say, ‘This isn’t OK,’” said former Granbury ISD Board Member Chris Tackett.
Tackett and civil rights advocates have pointed out many of the books initially removed by Granbury ISD, as well as a number of other books targeted by conservatives around the state, deal with LGBTQ+ or racial themes. The U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into whether Granbury ISD’s initial removal of books violated students’ civil rights, according to a report by NBC News, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.
Lou Whiting, the leader of an LGBTQ student group at Granbury High School, called the criminal investigation of the books “really scary.”
Whiting, who identifies as non-binary, and their mother said they believe the constables who have spoken out about the books want to impose a conservative Christian agenda on the community and that it left LGBTQ students wondering if they can trust law enforcement.
“What’s to say they now don’t have a record of the kids that check these books out? Where does this stop?” asked Lou’s mother, Angela Whiting.
“We’re not the culture police,” London told NBC 5 Investigates.
He insisted his investigation focused only on whether the books are obscene and were not aimed at the LGBTQ community.
“We can’t investigate lifestyle,” he said. “I mean, lifestyle is not a crime.”
London told NBC 5 Investigates he was reading the books himself to decide if any of them meet the criminal definition of pornography.
The criminal investigation into the library books remained open as of early January.
How To Watch "Against All Enemies" On Streaming Devices
“Against All Enemies” is available to stream on a number of platforms.
It airs periodically on the NBC Dallas Fort Worth News streaming channel on The Roku Channel, Xumo or Samsung TV Plus.
Viewers can also watch on-demand, but downloading NBC 5's apps on Roku and FireTV.
For additional help, go to NBCDFW.com/everywhere.
