BALTIMORE – Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson told the Baltimore City Public Schools Board of Commissioners that his recent arrest at a protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was “unlawful.”

Mckesson returned to Baltimore on Tuesday after a Louisiana judge granted his request to leave the state, and he spoke to the school board and media about why he believes he deserves to keep his job, Fox Baltimore reports.

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“I maintain that the arrest was unlawful,” he said.

“My commitment to our kids is unwavering, and my commitment to social justice is unwavering, and those commitments are not in conflict,” Mckesson told the news site.

Mckesson, 31, was among more than 100 people who were arrested in Baton Rouge in a mass protest Saturday over the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling, who is black.

The school board signaled its support for Mckesson in a statement after his arrest:

In his private capacity as an individual involved in community activism, City Schools staff member DeRay Mckesson participated in a weekend protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the course of which he was charged with a misdemeanor offense.

In the brief period since his June 28 appointment as City Schools’ interim chief human capital officer, Mr. Mckesson has brought his expertise, professionalism, and commitment to supporting City Schools’ employees and to the critical work of ensuring that all district schools are fully staffed when the school year begins on August 29.

We expect that work to continue under Mr. Mckesson’s leadership and anticipate his return to the district office on July 12.

Mckesson made himself famous through the Black Lives Matter movement after he took leave from his job at Minneapolis Public Schools to protest the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

More recently, Mckesson ran a last minute campaign for mayor of Baltimore and was beaten badly, coming in sixth in the Democratic primary with only 2.6 percent of the vote, according to The Baltimore Sun.

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The Baltimore native is popular on Twitter with about 420,000 followers, and his focus on police brutality and racial tensions have made him the darling of liberal elites like President Obama and Hillary Clinton, “who dubbed Mckesson a ‘social media emperor,’” the Sun reports.

He also has ties to George Soros’ Open Society Institute, a massive $1.5 billion “charity” that funds liberal causes.

The American Mirror reports that Mckesson lists his address as a Baltimore home owned by James and Robin Wood, wealthy philanthropists who give generously to the Open Society Institute-Baltimore, where Robin is a board member.  He reportedly used the same address when he ran for mayor.

The American Mirror makes other connections between Black Lives Matter and George Soros.

Mckesson was tapped by incoming Baltimore schools CEO Sonja Santlises to recruit new teachers and staff for the district in a decision announced in late June. The job comes with a $165,000 salary and puts Mckesson in charge of a $4 million budget and 56 employees, the Sun reports.

Before working in Minneapolis, Mckesson was a strategist with Baltimore schools’ office of human capital between 2011 and 2013.

“The office of human capital has a history of failing to fully staff schools, process paperwork and produce reliable data. Schools opened last year without enough teachers and principals. Hundreds of teachers and school staff also did not receive their first few paychecks on time,” according to the Sun.

Mckesson was arrested Saturday night while walking along a major road. He live streamed some of the protest and his arrest on Periscope.

At least one school board member, president Bernard Young, was troubled by Mckesson’s recent tango with the law.

“Well, I was shocked when it happened, but they say he was here before and he had stints in other cities,” Young told Fox Baltimore. “So, I respect their decision.”