Telemundo Reporter Removed from South Texas School District
Officials at a South Texas school district recently asked a Telemundo reporter to leave their administration building during an interview concerning death threats against students.
This incident unfolded earlier this week when the Telemundo reporting team attended a school bullying hearing at Flores Zapata School. Several girls involved had received death threats from fellow students. The situation was first highlighted by Breitbart, Texas, which claimed that school officials attempted to downplay the issue, even compelling students to delete videos where one student threatened another’s life.
During the hearing, school officials called in parents and their children to discuss the threats. However, when the Telemundo crew arrived, ECISD Public Information Officer Lisa Ayala and a security team escorted them outside, stating that although the sidewalk was public, filming on district property was not permitted. The reporters then moved across the street to continue speaking with parents, but school officials refused to provide any details about the case.
A significant point of concern during the hearing was how principal Araceli de los Santos managed the threats, allegedly trying to downplay the situation by assuring parents that it had been resolved without implementing measures to protect the affected students, according to Octavia Labon Martinez, who represented one of the victims.
“We ordered the student to delete the video before the investigation was completed,” Labon Martinez commented. “That’s evidence tampering.”
The lawyer informed attendees that, as of the day before the hearing, two weeks after the threats had surfaced, the school was still keeping both the victim and the alleged perpetrator in the same classroom.
During the proceedings, it came to light that at least five students had received death threats from the same individual, who was rumored to have brought knives to school on several occasions.
By the meeting’s conclusion, parents were informed that a committee would review the incident and make recommendations. Labon Martinez noted that while this indicates the school board’s intentions, the administration has not yet taken any immediate steps to ensure the safety of the threatened students.
