Mesa Public Schools said it is looking into the incident.
MESA, Ariz. — A teacher at Mesa High School is under investigation after allegedly dressing as a devil and saying “hail Satan” to students, according to one of the students in his class.
Sophomore Nathaniel Hamlet said last Wednesday he walked into class and saw his teacher wearing devil horns and holding a pitchfork. Hamlet claims the teacher waved the pitchfork over students’ heads as they entered, saying “hail Satan.”
“Some people thought it was funny, some didn’t like it, and some didn’t really care,” Hamlet said.
On Tuesday, the teacher told 12News they dressed up that way for Halloween spirit week. The teacher explained that the theme was “dynamic duos” and that a teacher next door dressed as an angel.
“Participating in spirit weeks is a way for me to connect with my students and make class fun,” the teacher said. “It’s honestly nothing more than that.”
However, Hamlet said he felt insulted by the costume due to his religious beliefs.
“I said, ‘Don’t do that to me,’ and I pushed [the pitchfork] away maybe three or four times, but he kept doing it,” Hamlet said.
Nathaniel then told his father, Chris Hamlet, a former Mesa school board candidate, about what happened. Chris said he reported it to the school’s principal.
“I was really upset because I’m a Christian too,” Chris Hamlet said. “The main issue for me is, the teacher kept doing it even when my son asked him to stop.”
The next day, Nathaniel said the teacher was not in class and hasn’t returned since. Mesa Public Schools said the teacher is now on paid administrative leave.
“I think that’s fair, but he kept doing it to everyone,” Nathaniel said. “I think he should probably be fired.”
His father agrees. Whether the teacher meant it as a joke or not, what happened in class was not right, Chris Hamlet said.
“If you’re going to keep Christian stuff out of schools, then you should keep devil-related stuff out too,” Chris said.
In a Facebook post last month, Chris Hamlet said: “Evil is rampant… we need WARRIORS for CHRIST!”
Chris Hamlet ran for the Mesa school board in 2022 against “indoctrination” in schools. He was supported by several far-right Republicans, including state Sen. Wendy Rogers and Congressman Paul Gosar. He finished sixth in a seven-person race.
A spokesperson for Mesa Public Schools gave 12News a statement on the incident:
“Mesa Public Schools administration was notified of the alleged incident late Wednesday afternoon. Our Human Resources department started investigating Thursday morning and put the teacher on paid leave. The investigation is still ongoing.”
Some parents picking up their kids from school on Monday told 12News that while they don’t agree with what the teacher did, they feel that firing him might be too extreme.
