A man in South Jersey is behind bars on multiple charges after confronting his daughter’s alleged bully at school and threatening to knock him out.
Police told the media Aaron Thomas, 38, went into a high school classroom in Paulsboro, New Jersey, about 35 miles southeast of Philadelphia, and approached two students, one of whom allegedly had been beefing with his daughter, ABC 7 reports.
In a cellphone video recording, Thomas walks up to a student and orders him to repent to his child.
“Apologize to my daughter,” Thomas says repeatedly throughout the nearly three-minute video.
Thomas initially intended to drive to the school and sign out his daughter. However, according to the police affidavit, Thomas chose to track down the other student his daughter was beefing with over a shared photo.
After threatening the first male student, Thomas is then seen making physical contact with another student and starts yelling. An adult who tried to intervene failed to de-escalate the confrontation.
Some parents agreed with the father’s feelings but disagreed with his actions
Later in the day, police arrested Thomas and charged him with simple assault, terrorist threats, trespassing, and disorderly conduct. The Paulsboro School District superintendent later sent a letter to parents assuring the district was cooperating with the police investigation.
Some parents were sympathetic to Thomas’ sentiments to defend his daughter, but most said Thomas was wrong for confronting the student himself.
“He’s between a rock and a hard place,” said Ed Rosas from Mantua Township, according to ABC 7 Chicago. “As a father, I can understand exactly what he’s saying, what he’s doing. But also, as a father of a child that’s in the schools, to have a stranger come in to do what he did is also wrong.”
“That’s wrong,” said Annmarie Sabatini from National Park. “The father shouldn’t have gotten arrested. He was protecting his daughter.”
A third person shown the video said the father should have handled the imbroglio administratively. “He should’ve gone to the principal’s office and got with them and pulled the kid out,” said Clarence Davis from Paulsboro.
