Student assaults classmate dressed in Trump-themed gear: video
A black high school student in Oklahoma is facing possible criminal charges after assaulting a white classmate wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and ripping off his Trump-themed cape, video shows.
The politically charged confrontation in a hallway at Edmond Santa Fe High School occurred Monday during the school’s “Double Wolf Dare Week,” a series of fundraising assemblies and events. As part of the annual fundraising effort, students who donate $1 are allowed to wear hats and other gear that typically wouldn’t be permitted, school officials said in a statement.
A 33-second clip of the incident shows the students — both of whom are seniors — standing in the middle of a hallway as the black, 18-year-old student approaches the white student, who is 17, Edmond police told The Post.
The white student then tries to walk past his classmate, who threatens to “rip it off” while tugging at the 17-year-old’s multicolored cape, which was decorated with the words, “TRUMP 2020, Keep America Great,” according to a police incident report.
“I agreed to stop, and the individual approached me,” the younger teen later told police. “He then told a nearby girl to come over and record this. He came closer to me and asked, ‘Why are you wearing that flag?’”
The teen said he told his classmate that he “felt like wearing” the items given the ongoing festivities at the school. He then declined to remove the garments when asked by his classmate, the teen told police.
“He then threatened me and said that if I did not take it off, he would assault me and take it,” the incident report continues. “I still declined to remove the flag. He then flipped off my ball cap and proceeded to cuss me and grab the flag.”
Jennifer Wagnon, an Edmond police spokeswoman, said a school resource officer issued the black teen a summons for misdemeanor assault and battery after the incident. The parents of the white teen have indicated that they plan to meet with the city attorney’s office within days to pursue criminal charges, Wagnon said.
The black teen was wearing a vest at the time because he was allowed to be walking the halls as a monitor in advance of a fundraising assembly. The teens had no prior issues before the confrontation, but the black teen saw the outfit earlier in the day and told his classmate that he didn’t approve of it, Wagnon said.
“So they passed each other in the hall and that’s what happened,” Wagnon said, referencing the video footage.
School officials said in a statement that the elder student violated school policy by knocking off his classmate’s hat.
“The school district honors students’ First Amendment rights, but must at the same time be vigilant in teaching and supporting students as they learn how best to appropriately express their opinions,” the statement read.
The black teen, meanwhile, told KOCO that he plans to apologize to his classmate, whose parents have indicated that they still plan on pursuing criminal charges in connection with the incident.