photo by: Austin Hornbostel

Douglas County Sheriff's Office deputies handcuff frequent anti-mask protester Justin Spiehs on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at the Douglas County Courthouse.

A Lawrence man known for protesting coronavirus masks and disrupting public meetings was formally charged Tuesday with disorderly conduct.

The man, Justin Paul Spiehs, 40, had his first appearance in Douglas County District Court on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct after he was escorted out of a Douglas County Commission meeting on April 20.

At the time, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office spokesman George Diepenbrock told the Journal-World that deputies arrested Spiehs “after observing his conduct of loud, rude and profane language and actions directed at a resident attending the Douglas County Commission meeting Wednesday evening.”

After Spiehs was arrested, he was booked into the Douglas County Jail. He was carrying a sign in the meeting with vulgar language announcing his candidacy for county commissioner. His next court appearance for disorderly conduct is on May 25.

Spiehs was recently bound over for trial on two felony counts of aggravated assault. He originally faced an additional charge of interference with law enforcement, but the state dismissed that charge during his preliminary hearing.

The charges relate to an incident in November of 2021 when he is alleged to have threatened a 9-year-old boy and his father with a stick at a COVID vaccine clinic for children outside of West Middle School, 2700 Harvard Road. He is scheduled for a jury trial on Sept. 12 on those charges.