While at a shooting range, a proud teen posted a video his mother had taken of himself learning to properly use a firearm. However, within hours, the police were at his home and his school had officially banned him, sending out an email to parents that he was a “threat” to their children.
After Wednesday classes, Colorado resident Justine Myers picked up her 16-year-old son, Nate, for shooting lessons at a local outdoor range. Proud of his accomplishments in self-defense, the teen sent a picture to friends announcing that he was about to have fun at the range, accompanied by a short clip of him being coached by his mother on proper firearm use.
After they returned home from target practice, Justine answered the door to find several Loveland police officers, who informed her that Nate had been reported as a threat. Of course, Justine explained their trip to the range and their legal and safe practices. The police agreed that they were within their rights to perform such activities before apologizing for the confusion and deeming Nate a non-threat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5VihgVyKxU
Unfortunately, their troubles were just beginning. After being treated as potential terrorists, Justine and Nate awoke on Thursday to a voicemail from Thompson Valley School District warning them not to return to Loveland High School until further notice. According to Red State, through the “Safe 2 Tell” program, Nate had been accused of suspicious activity and compromising the safety of everyone on campus.
Along with being indefinitely suspended from school, Nate was slandered as a “threat” to students and faculty in a school-wide email sent out to parents. Expectedly upset, Justine immediately called the school to clear up the accusations. However, even after showing the school that police had determined that the allegations were misinformed, she was told that she would have to prove her son’s innocence at a “threat assessment hearing” before he’d be allowed to attend classes.
Justine claims that she and her son were told they must “make their case” for Nate’s innocence or else he will remain banned from school. Disturbingly, legal experts have told Rally for Our Rights, a non-partisan organization that specializes in defending the Second Amendment rights of American citizens, that the school is allowed to do so even though the “threat” was based on a false report.
Under “Safe 2 Tell,” anyone can anonymously report an individual for an alleged threat without fear of repercussions, ensuring that the accused will be treated as guilty until proven innocent. The program has been given the nickname “Safe 2 Swat,” as individuals have misused it for the purpose of harassing others through emergency responders.
According to Justine, the school won’t give her any further information about the accusations against her son. Additionally, the school refused to provide her with Nate’s schoolwork so that he doesn’t get behind and fail his classes, leaving him in a proverbial limbo.
As for the accuser who abused the system, they remain anonymous and free from repercussions. Disturbingly, it is the safety and comfort that anonymity provides and the assurance that false accusers won’t be held accountable that encourages the abuse of Safe 2 Tell.
Sadly, Nate is being treated like a potential terrorist or aspiring school shooter. He now fears that his desire to join the military has been jeopardized by the false report and the school’s subsequent response, which will likely go on his permanent record.
For now, Justine and Nate are weighing their legal options in the hopes that they can get him removed from the “threat” list and reinstated in his classes. However, the worst part of the entire series of events is that there is nothing to repair Nate’s reputation as a potential threat.
