A student at Mason High School in Mason, Michigan, is alleging that a teacher at the school did not like her “Women for Trump” pin and forcibly pulled it off her shirt. A police report has been filed, but when the school district’s superintendent addressed the situation in an email to parents, he claimed that the incident “does not affect the safety of our students.”
“When your MALE teacher physically grabs your shirt and pulls your women for Trump pin off and wont give it back. So sick of public schools,” wrote 16-year-old Mason High School student Sadie Earegood on Facebook. “NO REASON I should have been assaulted and had my pin pulled off.”
The student told local media that the man involved in the incident is Paul Kato, who teaches media technology at the high school.
“He stood up and walked over to me and aggressively grabbed the pin that was attached to my jacket that said ‘Women for Trump,'” Earegood told Breitbart News. “I kept telling him no and stop but he wouldn’t. I was walking backwards trying to get away from him and then he kept coming towards me each time I took a step back.”
“He put his hands on my shoulder trying to get the pin off,” she added. “Then he took both hands and unlatched the pin from my jacket and put it upside down on his shirt, and said it belongs upside down.”
After Earegood posted about the alleged occurrence on social media, the school’s superintendent addressed the incident in an email to parents.
“This morning, there was an incident reported to the high school administration,” wrote Mason Public Schools Superintendent Ronald Drzewicki in an email to parents. “This incident does not affect the safety of our students or staff, but because the matter appeared on social media, we wanted to provide you with some information.”
“We have followed standard procedure by contacting law enforcement and conducting interviews to determine the facts of the situation,” continued Drzewicki. “Please trust that we are doing our very best to uncover the facts, and that we will take appropriate action when we have a complete understanding of the situation.”
Students say that Kato has not been seen at the school since December 5, the same day the alleged incident occurred, according to a report by WILX 10. The police confirmed to WILX that they are investigating the incident.
The report added that Kato is originally from Nigeria, where he spent ten years establishing a residential soccer school that officially opened in 2018.
Earegood told Breitbart News that while exposing Kato’s alleged behavior on has resulted in her being bullied by her peers at school and on social media, she has nonetheless refused to remain silent and will continue wearing her gear showing support for President Donald Trump.
“People are trying to silence my freedom of speech,” said Earegood to Breitbart News. “They won’t stop me from standing up for what I believe in.”
The student added that her family has filed a police report regarding the incident. The Mason Police Department has reportedly confirmed that police are looking into a report of an alleged assault.
Superintendent Drzewicki did not respond to Breitbart News’ request for comment or clarification on how the alleged incident of a teacher placing his hands on a student “does not affect the safety of students.”
Mason Police Chief Don Hanson provided the following statement to Breitbart News:
“On Thursday, December 5, 2019 at approximately 2:45 PM, the Police Department was contacted by the Mason Public School District about an alleged assault that had been reported to them from a student. The alleged suspect in the incident was a staff member of the Mason Public School District. No injuries were reported in the incident. The incident was reported to have occurred earlier in the day at the Mason High School. The incident is open and has been assigned for investigative follow-up. The Mason Police Department has been in contact with a parent(s) of the student. Due to a student being involved and the matter being open, no additional details will be released at this time.”
Breitbart News will continue to follow this story.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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