Sacramento high school returns to ‘normal’ after viral false threats after teacher uproar
Classes continued as normal at Inderkum High School a day after rumors of threats swirled online and some students went home early Thursday following an uproar surrounding news of a teacher shown on an undercover video discussing antifa.
Natomas Unified School District Superintendent Chris Evans said Friday that authorities determined there was no credibility to rumors of threats posted online. He told The Sacramento Bee there were never any direct threats made at the school.
“All proved not to be true. ... It was just drama and rumors,” Evans said about the rumored threats. “All of that was because of Project Veritas’ approach to tell us that a teacher had violated the law.”
An Advanced Placement government teacher at Inderkum High was captured on an undercover video discussing antifa and saying he wanted his students to become “revolutionaries.” The video was published by Project Veritas, a conservative activist group that often produces undercover videos.
On Wednesday, Natomas Unified announced it planned to fire the teacher after spending two days investigating the teacher’s alleged actions and classroom environment. Evans wrote in a letter to the public that the teacher’s educational approach “disturbing and undermines the public’s trust.”
School board meeting ends abruptly
The school district’s announcement was followed by a heated school board meeting Wednesday night in which some adults — many of them angry and emotional, and shouting out of turn — called for more accountability from the district.
The school board meeting was ended abruptly Wednesday night for “legitimate safety reasons,” Evans wrote in a message posted on the Natomas Unified website.
“Staff and board members were sent numerous vicious threats, and reports of conversations overheard in the meeting about threats and possible violence during the meeting itself,” Evans wrote in the messages posted online Thursday. “Some of those threats have extended to their family members. Most disappointing is that these threats have also spilled over to some of our student groups and students.”
On Thursday morning, the school district notified parents of Inderkum High students that a social media post had cautioned students not to attend school that day. The person who posted that online was a minor, and police were handling that situation, according to a Natomas Unified Facebook post.
Deidra Powell, a district spokeswoman, said that message to Inderkum parents was sent to them in phone calls, text messages and emails on Thursday morning. She said there was never a lockdown ordered on campus, and another rumor indicating there might be a student with a weapon on campus also proved to be untrue when school administration and the Sacramento police investigated.
Police say threats were ‘unfounded’
The Sacramento Police Department said campus resource officers were notified of the social media post.
“Officers investigated the circumstances and determined the information in the social media post to be unfounded,” police officials said in an email to The Bee on Friday. “The involved subjects have been identified, and school resource officers will be following up with school administration regarding the incident.”
The district spokeswoman told The Bee that classes were held as normally scheduled Thursday, but some parents decided to pick up their children early and take them home. Powell said classes continued as normally scheduled Friday, and the campus had returned to “normal.”
The superintendent said about 250 students went home early Thursday, since parents felt it was necessary to have their children away from school until after authorities could “get to the bottom” of the false rumors of threats. He said he supports the parents’ decision.
Out of an abundance of caution, Evans said steps have been taken to ensure the safety of the students, faculty and staff at Inderkum High. But he declined to discuss specifically what precautions have been taken.
Because of the social media post that prompted the rumors, there was an increased police presence on campus Thursday.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 1:59 PM.
