A Georgia middle school teacher has been arrested for allegedly threatening to chop off the head of a Muslim student who objected to an Israeli flag in his classroom.
Benjamin Reese, 51, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Warner Robbins Middle School, was arrested last Friday on charges of making a terroristic threat and cruelty to children, WMAZ reported.
Multiple people reported hearing him screaming threats after a girl confronted him in a hallway and told him she found the flag in his room offensive “due to Israelis killing Palestinians,” according to an incident report.
“You motherf—king piece of s—t! I’ll kick your ass! I should cut your motherf—king head off!” he reportedly screamed after accusing the girl of being antisemitic.
Several students said they heard Reese also saying he would “slit her goddamn throat and drag her ass outside and cut her head off.”
The teacher — who has not been back to campus since the alleged threats — told the girl he is Jewish and has relatives in Israel, according to the documents.
“You don’t make an antisemitic comment like that to a Jew,” a faculty member heard Reese saying, according to the incident report. The student responded negatively but was not yelling, the report said.
A deputy interviewed several witnesses, including teachers and students. Surveillance video showed Reese shouting and going back to his classroom, but did not have audio, WMAZ said.
When asked by the deputy if he’d threatened students, Reese became defensive and denied speaking to anyone, the report states.
The teacher then said he told a student who was offended by the flag that they were being antisemitic but denied saying anything racist.
He then said he had “nothing further” to say and “invoked his civil rights.”
In a statement to WMAZ, the school system 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,” the statement read.
A judge set Reese’s bond at $2,500 for the terroristic threat charge and $5,000 for the cruelty charge. Reese has been released.
The incident occurred at a time of heightened tensions during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
There have been numerous bias incidents of antisemitic and anti-Muslim behavior following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and amid Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
“We welcome the swift action against Benjamin Reese including the charges and arrest in connection with the horrific threats he allegedly made to a child,” Azka Mahmood, executive director of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations)-Georgia, told CNN in a statement.
“We hope that the Board of Education will take the appropriate steps to ensure that, if this teacher indeed made the remarks he is accused of making, is not allowed back in classrooms where he can cause immeasurable harm to Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students,” she added.