A young girl fainted behind Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry Wednesday as he signed the controversial new bill requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools, video shows.
As the Republican leader was talking about the legislation, a girl standing directly behind him in a white shirt appeared to turn pale and sway back and forth, according to the footage shared on social media.
When the governor pauses and the room begins to applaud, her eyes suddenly roll back in her head and she collapses to the ground, the clip shows.
Landry appears not to notice as others rush to help her before signing the bill.
“If you want to respect the rule of law, you’ve got to start from the original lawgiver, which was Moses,” the governor declared.
The Post has reached out to Gov. Landry’s office for comment.
The legislation, House Bill 71, was approved by state lawmakers last month.
It mandates that a poster-size display of the Ten Commandments with “large, easily readable font” be hung in every state-funded classroom, from kindergarten through universities — by the start of 2025.
The law also authorizes but does not require schools to put up copies of US founding documents like the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence and the Northwest Ordinance in classrooms.
Several civil liberties groups immediately announced they would be challenging the bill.
“We will see you in court Governor Landry,” Alanah Odoms, Executive Director of ACLU Louisiana, told WAFB. “It strikes at the heart of our fundamental constitutional rights. The right to choose a faith of your own or choose no faith at all.”
“If the government can tell you what religion you have to be, perhaps the government can also tell you that you cannot speak out about a particular issue or else you’ll be incarcerated,” she added.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional.
Similar legislation requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms has been proposed in Texas, Oklahoma and Utah.
