Bay Area man accused of attacking education official for ‘teaching racism’
The defendant is charged with battery against Greg Knell, a former San Rafael City Schools trustee who has won a seat on the Marin County Board of Education.
A Marin County man is facing court hearings next week involving accusations he punched a San Rafael schools official over apparent opposition to racism-related education efforts.
James Harahan Keating, 61, of San Rafael is charged with two misdemeanor counts for an alleged attack against Greg Knell, 73, in the parking lot of a shopping center. Knell is a former San Rafael schools trustee who is headed for the Marin County Board of Education after running unopposed in this election cycle.
The charges against Keating are battery on an elderly adult and battery, according to the prosecution complaint.
Keating is scheduled for a change of plea hearing and a motion hearing Oct. 6 in Marin County Superior Court. His lawyer, Aaron Pressman of the Marin County Public Defender’s Office, could not be reached for comment.
Keating did not respond to efforts to contact him on the phone or in person. A person who answered the door at his home said Keating did not want to comment.
The incident occurred just before 4 p.m. April 25, 2021, according to Knell. He said the attacker approached when he was exiting his car at the Northgate One parking lot in Terra Linda.
“He just came up and accused me of teaching racism, and then sucker-punched me,” Knell said this week. “When you’re sucker-punched, you can’t prepare yourself. It was a complete surprise.”
Knell said the man did not explain what he meant by “teaching racism” or what education efforts he thought Knell was involved in.
Knell called 911. Police contacted Keating inside a nearby business and asked him to step outside to be interviewed, said San Rafael police Sgt. Raul Aguilar.
“The suspect did not resist or obstruct officers,” he said.
Police arrested Keating on suspicion of battery, Aguilar said.
Knell said he did not know his attacker. Having served 17 years on the San Rafael Board of Education, Knell said the man likely recognized him as a longtime public school official.
Knell said he suffered a mild concussion and cuts and bruises on his face. A photo taken four days after the attack shows Knell’s left eye swollen shut and his face covered with large, deep purple bruises.
Knell, who runs a printing business, said he came back to work after two weeks off, but kept out of the public eye for some time until his bruises healed. He has not previously spoken out publicly about the attack, and other Marin educators contacted by the Independent Journal said they had no idea that it had occurred.
The prosecution filed the charges in June 2021. Knell said he was reluctant to talk about it now, but he agreed to do so because he said it is important to alert other Marin public officials to be careful.
Also, he said, it is important to discuss the incident because it appears to him to be linked to an alarming and growing trend across the country where public officials, and school officials in particular, have been targeted by far-right extremists.
“I’ve seen this on TV, people attacking school board members,” he said. He added that it was part of a schools-related movement that also included book banning, anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theories and accusations against teachers in general and history teachers in particular.
“They say they support ‘return to basics,’ like arithmetic, English and science,” Knell said. “That’s just code for going back to some sanitized, fairy tale version of history, like the landing of the Mayflower.”
Knell speculated that many of the perpetrators are egged on by certain media outlets that want to fan violence for political reasons.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland formed a team last year to address incidents of violence against teachers, school administrators and board members.
“Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation’s core values,” Garland said.
Knell will represent a northern section of San Rafael on the county education board when he takes office in mid-December.