Photo: CBS 12
A South Florida school board candidate is defending her right to peacefully assemble after a photo surfaced showing her outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6th last year.
"I believe that we as Americans, in anything, are able to stand up for what we believe in."
Angelique Contreras tells CBS 12 News that she was on her way home before the violence inside the building erupted and she was never in the building that day.
"I do condemn any and all violence and just because one bad apple was there does not mean it should outweigh to all the Americans who stood proudly."
Still, some parents have voiced concerns about her run for the Palm Beach County School Board.
31-year old Contreras was a fixture at school board meetings last year, commonly complaining about mask mandates.
The mother of two who's pulled her kids out of public school over the mask mandate that is no longer in effect says she still isn't sure whether she will re-enroll the children.
Contreras is running on a platform of parental choice, education instead of indoctrination and the removal of all explicit sexual content from school libraries and curricula.
She's challenging incumbent Erica Whitfield in District 4. That's one of four school board seats up for election in August.