A UK teacher said he was reported to government counter-terrorism investigators and forced to resign just for showing high school senior-age students videos of President Trump.
The politics teacher at Henley College in Oxfordshire, northwest of London, told the Telegraph he was accused of causing “emotional harm” to the students, who were all 17 or 18 years old — with child protective services suggesting he could be guilty of a “hate crime.”
“They likened me to a terrorist. It was completely jarring,” the teacher, who asked for his name not to be used, told the paper.
“It’s dystopian, like something from a George Orwell novel.”
Henley College, which has roughly 2,000 students, launched an investigation into the veteran educator in January after two students complained that using Trump videos meant he was “biased” and his teaching was “off topic.”
One of the videos “made one of the students feel quite uncomfortable,” the school said, according to the Telegraph.
In an email, school officials wrote he was alleged “to have shown your students videos of Donald Trump, his campaign, propaganda, and other videos which are unrelated to what is being taught.”
“It was just terrifying; just mind-boggling,” said the politics teacher, who is in his 50s and has been teaching since the 1990s.
“We were discussing the US election, Trump had just won, and I showed a couple of videos from the Trump campaign,” said the baffled teacher, who admitted he is a Republican supporter.
“Next thing, I was accused of bias. One of the students said they were emotionally disturbed and claimed to have had nightmares.”
Henley College referred the case to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), an official who investigates safety concerns, according to the Telegraph.
An LADO report from May found the teacher’s views “could be perceived as radical” and that Henley College “should complete a Prevent referral,” a “government-led, multi-agency” program that “aims to stop individuals becoming terrorists.”
“There is concern that this behavior could cause harm to a child, there could be a criminal offence from the views which could constitute a hate crime and it’s possible that his promoting of views could be radicalization,” the report continued.
The teacher filed a grievance against the school over his allegations that he was forced to resign from his $59,000-a-year job. He was given a given a $2,700 payout, he said.
Henley College declined to comment on the matter, telling the Telegraph: “Allegations are handled with due care, in accordance with statutory guidance, with appropriate support provided to all involved.”
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