The teacher allegedly said “Hail Satan” to the students while waving the pitchfork over their heads. Now the teacher is on leave.
A public high school teacher in Mesa, Arizona, is on paid administrative leave after he allegedly donned devil horns and said “Hail Satan” to students while waving a pitchfork over their heads as they entered the classroom.
What are the details?
Sophomore Nathaniel Hamlet said KPNX-TV Last Wednesday, he walked into his class at Mesa High School and noticed his teacher was carrying devil horns and a pitchfork.
Hamlet claimed to the station that his teacher waved the pitchfork over the students’ heads as he entered the classroom and said to them, “Hail, Satan.”
“Some people thought it was funny, some people didn’t like it, some people were like ‘whatever,’ they just screwed it up,” Hamlet noted to KPNX.
However, things got personal for Hamlet – a Christian – especially when he said his teacher kept up the routine with him even after he told the teacher to stop, the channel noted.
“I said, ‘Don’t do this to me,’ and pushed [the pitchfork] gone, maybe three or four times, and he still said it and still did it,” Hamlet told KPNX.
Hamlet also told the station that his teacher even extended the pitchfork toward him in a backwards motion, “and did it again” as he walked past the teacher into the classroom.
Image source: YouTube screenshot
The sophomore then told his father, Chris Hamlet — a former Mesa Public School board candidate — what happened, the station said. His father then reported it to the Mesa High School principal, KPNX noted.
“I was angry because of course I’m a Christian too,” Chris Hamlet told the broadcaster. “What really tipped the scales for me was that he kept telling him no and the teacher kept insisting.”
Image source: YouTube screenshot
What happened next?
Nathaniel Hamlet told KPNX that the teacher was not in the classroom the next day and has not returned since. He added to the station that he believes the teacher “probably should be fired” because he “kept doing the stunt to everyone.”
Hamlet’s father agrees, telling KPNX that what the teacher allegedly did, even if it was a stunt, wasn’t appropriate: “If you want to keep the Christian stuff out, then you gotta keep the devil worship stuff out, period.” “
What did the teacher have to say?
The teacher told the station on Tuesday that the outfit was for Halloween spirit week, adding that the theme was dynamic duos and the teacher next door was wearing an angel costume.
“Participating in spirit weeks is a way for me to connect with my students and bring fun into my classroom,” the teacher told KPNX. “It really isn’t any more complicated than that.”
What did the school district have to say?
A spokesperson for Mesa Public Schools told the station that human resources began an investigation as soon as it learned of the alleged incident and “placed the teacher on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.” The investigation is ongoing.”
Other parents who picked up their children from school on Monday told KPNX that while they disagreed with the teacher’s actions, firing the teacher may have gone too far.
Something else?
The station said Chris Hamlet posted the following in a Facebook post last month to recruit Republican precinct committee members: “Evil is also rampant within the Republican Party; we need WARRIORS for CHRIST!!”
The station said Chris Hamlet is running for Mesa Unified School Board in 2022 as an opponent of “indoctrination, hypersexualization and grooming.” KPNX added that “prominent far-right Republicans – State Senator Wendy Rogers of Flagstaff and Congressman Paul Gosar of Bullhead City” – supported him. The broadcaster said Hamlet came sixth in a field of seven candidates.
Mesa High School teacher placed on leave after students say he dressed as a devilYoutube
Do you like Blaze News? Bypass the censorship, sign up for our newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Login here!