A middle school teacher in Warner Robins, Georgia, has been arrested after allegedly threatening to kill a student who told him she was offended by the Israeli flag hanging in his classroom. Benjamin Reese teaches seventh grade social studies at Warner Robins Middle School.
A student said that she went to his classroom and asked him why he had the flag there. He told her that he was Jewish and has family in Israel. The student reportedly told the teacher that the flag was offensive due to "Israelis killing [Palestinians]." The student said that after that, Reese got angry.
Reese told the student that she was antisemitic. The student says she left the classroom because of the "heated and uncomfortable" situation, but Reese kept yelling at the student and her friends as they walked down the hallway. Multiple witnesses said that they heard Reese yelling at the students, and some said that he followed them down the hallway, according to 13WMAZ.
According to the incident report, several witnesses said they heard Reese threaten the students. "You [expletive] piece of [expletive]! I should cut your [expletive] head off!" he allegedly shouted.
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One adult witness said they heard the teacher say, "You don’t make an antisemitic comment like that to a Jew,” and then later shout that he would “slit her [expletive] throat."
Another teacher allegedly heard Reese shouting, “She is a stupid [expletive], and I will drag her by the back of my car and cut her [expletive] head off for disrespecting my Jewish flag."
Several witnesses reportedly heard Reese say similar things to or about the students, like, "I will drag her [expletive] into the parking lot, slit her [expletive] throat and kill her," 13WMAZ reported. Reese was arrested on December 8, 2023.
Video recordings from the school hallway has no audio but in the footage, Reese could be seen yelling while walking down the hall.
He was arrested and charged with terroristic threats and cruelty to children in the 3rd degree. His bond was set at $2,500 for the terroristic threat charge and $5,000 for the cruelty charge.
When questioned about whether or not he threatened the students, Reese was reportedly defensive and would hardly say anything about the situation. He also reportedly "kicked the door stopper in an aggressive manner."
In a statement to 13WMAZ, Houston County Schools said:
"All employees of the Houston County School District are required to follow the Code of Ethics for Educators. If there is a violation or accusation of a violation, we investigate and respond appropriately. While we are not able to discuss specific personnel matters, we can share that Mr. Reese has not been on the campus of Warner Robins Middle School since Dec. 7, 2023. Safety and the well-being of our students and staff is our number one priority."
