A middle school teacher in Georgia who was accused of threatening to behead a Muslim student over a disagreement about an Israeli flag hanging in his classroom has now been arrested, according to Houston County jail records.
Benjamin Reese, 51, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Warner Robins Middle School, was taken into custody on Dec. 8 on charges of making terroristic threats and cruelty to children. Reese was released on bond two days later. However, bond conditions require him to stay away from the school and the student he is accused of threatening, according to jail records.
According to an incident report, the female student told a sheriff's investigator she went into Reese's classroom on Dec. 7 after spotting the flag and told him she found it offensive because Israelis were killing Palestinians. According to the student, Reese said he was Jewish, got angry and accused her of being antisemitic.
Witnesses, including staff, claimed they heard Reese use expletives and reportedly scream, "You motherf---ing piece of s---t! I’ll kick your a--! I should cut your motherf---ing head off!"
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Some students added they had even heard Reese saying he would "slit her goddamn throat and drag her a-- outside and cut her head off."
When questioned by a deputy about threatening any students, Reese denied the allegations, the report said. He said he told a student who was offended by the flag that she was being antisemitic but denied saying anything racist to her.
Reese then said he had nothing further to add and "invoked his civil rights," according to the report.
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Surveillance video showed Reese shouting before walking back to his classroom, but the video did not have audio, WMAZ reported.
In a statement, Houston County School District spokeswoman Jennifer Jones said Reese had not returned to the middle school since Dec. 7.
The district attorney added that he plans to seek an indictment from a grand jury next month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
