Surf City’s latest political showdown just ended with a decisive win for the school's side of the house. On Monday, an Orange County Superior Court judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by Huntington Beach Mayor Pro Tem Butch Twining against Ocean View School District Board President Gina Clayton‑Tarvin after granting her anti‑SLAPP motion. The ruling, issued following a hearing in Fullerton, wipes out Twining’s $25 million claim and abruptly closes a months‑long public feud tied to a September vigil that briefly went viral. Twining said he does not plan to appeal, leaving the fight to play out in politics instead of the courtroom.
Judge Craig Griffin had signaled his thinking with a tentative ruling Saturday, then made it official at Monday’s hearing by granting Clayton‑Tarvin’s special motion to strike under California’s anti‑SLAPP law, according to the Los Angeles Times. The paper reports Griffin concluded Clayton‑Tarvin’s social‑media posts were protected speech and ordered that Twining be responsible for her attorneys’ fees as a result. Clayton‑Tarvin called the decision a “slam dunk” and praised the court for what she described as a strong stand for free‑speech protections.
How the fight began
Twining filed his complaint in late November, seeking $25 million in damages and accusing Clayton‑Tarvin of defamation over posts that he said falsely painted him as marching and chanting with white supremacists at a Sept. 10 vigil at Pier Plaza, according to the court complaint. The filing centers on a short, widely shared video showing men chanting “White man fight back” while Twining briefly appears in the frame holding an American flag and a candle. The complaint states Twining left the event once the chanting started and claims Clayton‑Tarvin’s posts led to threats and damage to his reputation.
What the judge found
In his tentative ruling, Griffin wrote that Clayton‑Tarvin’s statements were “substantially true” and noted she did not say Twining himself was a white supremacist or that he joined in the chanting, the Los Angeles Times reports. In court, Griffin emphasized that there is an important legal difference between pointing out that extremists were present at an event and accusing an elected official of participating with them. Twining’s attorney countered that the record showed he did not take part in the chants, but the judge ultimately ruled that the trustee’s posts did not cross the legal line into defamation.
Anti‑SLAPP and the stakes
California’s anti‑SLAPP statute lets courts strike lawsuits that target speech on public issues and generally requires the losing plaintiff to cover a prevailing defendant’s attorney fees. The law appears at Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16. That fee‑shifting feature is designed to discourage high‑dollar cases that could chill political speech, which is why Clayton‑Tarvin’s attorneys moved early with the special motion to strike. With Griffin’s ruling in her favor, the lawsuit stops in its tracks, and the case now moves into a phase where a fee award to the trustee can be determined.
Local fallout
The dispute has poured fuel on an already heated political climate between Huntington Beach councilmembers and school‑district leaders, and it drew wider attention because of the pier video and a burst of social‑media commentary. Clayton‑Tarvin, a veteran Ocean View trustee whom colleagues selected as board president in December, said the ruling confirms that residents have a right to criticize elected officials. For Twining, the decision closes off one legal avenue to clear his name, but it is unlikely to settle the broader political fights that continue at council meetings and across community forums.
