photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A small group of protesters say they were standing Feb. 6, 2022, at the corner of 110 McDonald Drive, where Lawrence school district headquarters are located, top right of photo near red light, when a car driven by Lawrence Superintendent Anthony Lewis came from the south on its way toward the I-70 on-ramp and swerved toward them. Lewis denies that he intentionally swerved toward them.

Updated at 6:45 p.m. Monday

A group of anti-mask protesters allege that Lawrence school district Superintendent Anthony Lewis “swerved” his car toward them while they were protesting along the side of a Lawrence street on Sunday.

Lewis said the allegations are not accurate and that he’s considering taking action to “protect” himself from false allegations.

Three regular protesters were present, Justin Spiehs, Sue Herynk and Joe Herynk. Spiehs has been leading anti-mask protests in town for months and has been a regular presence at the school district building. In December, he was charged with three felonies in Douglas County District Court in relation to his conduct while protesting at West Middle School during a vaccine clinic for children ages 5-11.

Major Trent McKinley, a spokesperson for the police department, said Monday morning that police were dispatched to the intersection of West Second Street and McDonald Drive at 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, where a man stated he had been standing on the northeast corner of the intersection holding a sign when the incident occurred. McKinley said the man stated that a vehicle northbound on McDonald Drive swerved toward him, “causing him concern that he may be struck by the vehicle.”

McKinley said officers completed a police report documenting the allegation and reviewed traffic camera footage of the intersection as part of the investigation. He said Monday morning that the investigation was ongoing and that no citations or arrests had been made in connection with the allegation. Early Monday evening, though, Major Anthony Brixius told the Journal-World that “everyone had been contacted” who was involved in the matter and he was not expecting further investigation unless new information became available.

In emails to Lewis, in which he has copied dozens of people, including local leaders and reporters from various area news organizations, Spiehs alleges that Lewis tried to run him and two other protesters over with his car. Sue Herynk, another regular anti-mask protester, also contacted the newspaper about the incident and claimed Lewis “swerved” toward their group when they were standing at the edge of the intersection, “with their toes hanging over the curb.” She said Lewis’ car came within “three or four feet” of them.

photo by: Kim Callahan

The northeast corner of the intersection of McDonald Drive and West Second Street is pictured on Feb. 7, 2022.

Lewis said Monday that he had been on his way to Kansas City with his wife and two of his kids when he saw Spiehs and the other protesters. Lewis said Spiehs was getting excited and pointing to one of the protest signs, which he saw had his name on it. Sue Herynk said the sign included Lewis’ name, his salary and the letters “WTF.” Lewis said when he was proceeding through the intersection, which he noted is curved, he tried to read the sign, and, after his wife alerted him that he was drifting off course, he corrected his position in the lane.

Lewis said he shouldn’t have tried to read the sign, but estimated he had drifted a very small distance in the lane and definitely did not try to swerve toward Spiehs.

“I mean nowhere near him,” Lewis said. “Obviously if you see a car jerk, you know, you may think, ‘Oh, he tried to hit me.’ Well, that certainly was not the case.”

Lewis said he found out Sunday evening that there was a police report filed and that he and his wife tried going to different police buildings to find out what they needed to do. He said that police have since told him that the traffic camera footage from the intersection had been reviewed and that police didn’t find anything to substantiate the claims. When the Journal-World asked a police department spokesman Monday morning whether the department had determined the report to be unsubstantiated, the spokesman did not directly comment on that claim.

The Journal-World has asked police for a copy of the camera footage that was recorded at the scene.

Filing a false police report potentially is a crime under certain state statutes. Lewis said he was told that the ball would be in his court as to whether he wanted to take any action in regard to a false report being made. Lewis said that at this point he was just trying to figure out what his next step was to protect himself.

“It just seems like it’s just one thing after another and stress on top of stress — and a lot of distractions,” Lewis said.

— Journal-World editor Chad Lawhorn contributed to this report.