18-year-old student yells racial slurs at minor. School district appears to place some blame with the student victim.
EDMOND, OKLAHOMA – Another student has been assaulted for wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, this time at Santa Fe High School in Edmond, Oklahoma. A video posted to Twitter shows 18-year-old Kenneth Dewayne Jones chasing after a younger student wearing a MAGA hat and “USA” jacket, and carrying a “Trump 2020” flag. Mr. Jones can be seen on the video yelling racial slurs at the minor student, threatening to rip off the hat and flag, as well as threatening to burn those items while the student is wearing them. He then hits the hat on the other student’s head, violently rips the flag from the student, and throws it on the ground.
Edmond Public Schools issued a statement regarding the incident on Tuesday. The school district’s statement appeared to place some amount of blame on the victim, noting, “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.” It’s uncertain from the statement whether the school district is suggesting the victim was not appropriately expressing his opinion by wearing a MAGA hat, or is suggesting the perpetrator was just expressing his opinion in an inappropriate way.
The video and the district’s full statement are below:
Statement by Edmond Public Schools Regarding Assault at Santa Fe High School
Edmond Public Schools is aware of cell phone video captured and posted to social media showing an incident between two students in a hallway at Edmond Santa Fe High School. The incident took place Monday, February 25th, the start of Santa Fe’s Double Wolf Dare Week, a series of assemblies, night events, sports tournaments and other events organized and staged to raise money toward the annual fund-raising goal. On the 25th, students were allowed to contribute a dollar to the fundraising cause in exchange for a pass to wear headgear to school, which is typically not allowed in school facilities during the school day.
In the video, an 18-year-old student is seen confronting a younger classmate who is wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and carrying a “Trump” flag. The student then proceeds to grab the flag and knock the hat off of his classmate’s head.
Given that hats were allowed at school yesterday as part of the week-long fundraising events, there was no specific dress code violation. The student’s choice to grab a classmate’s property and knock his hat off did, however, violate the school’s discipline policy. In response, Edmond Santa Fe High School administrators, working simultaneously with Edmond Police, addressed the incident with swift and immediate disciplinary action. A school resource officer issued a ticket to the student who grabbed the classmate’s property. According to the Edmond Police Department, a mediation process is the next step facing the students.
“The student who was given the municipal summons, and the parents of the other student in the hat — those parents will have to contact the city attorney’s office within five days,” said Edmond Police. “And then both parties will meet with the city attorney and try to work something out. If not, then it’s up to the city attorney to file the assault charges against the student who is an adult.”
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.