Video Catches Dad Pulling Knife On A Teen During PTA Meeting

A dad pulled a knife on a teen during a PTA meeting about arming teachers

After the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, plenty of schools are having conversations about ways to keep students safer. At one Long Island high school’s public meeting to discuss safety, a dad thought it perfectly appropriate to “prove” his point about arming teachers by pulling a knife on a student.

Yes, you read that right.

Cell phone video taken by a student captured a chilling interaction between 17-year-old senior Jade Pinkenburg and an unidentified dad attending the PTA meeting at Rocky Point High School. According to Newsweek, it was held the same day 30 students walked out in protest in observance of Wednesday’s National Walkout Day. The student who took the video, Jo Herman, tweeted the footage along with a little background.

“I protested peacefully this morning and got suspended. A man threatened a kid with a knife at a PTA meeting and got gently escorted from the school. Show me the logic.”

“I’m considerably larger than you, OK?” the dad tells Pinkenburg in the clip. “If something happened, if I decided to attack you, it would take the cops three to five minutes to come here—probably 10 if the traffic’s bad.” Pinkenburg had spoken out during the meeting to argue against the idea of arming teachers and he was explaining to her why he thinks it’s a good idea.

Then, he pulls out a pocket knife, holds it close to the teen and says, “What are you gonna do now?”

Um, had I been there, probably try to get this lunatic pulling a weapon on a child arrested?

But that’s not what the adults in the room did. A few yelled out “Stop!” and the consensus seemed to be that what he did was wrong, but it’s notable that not a single one of them rushed to this teen’s aid, to protect them from a man crazy enough to whip out a knife during a PTA meeting.

Pinkenburg tells Raw Story, “I had no idea what was happening,” he said. “He was in my face a bit and I didn’t know what he was about to do. When I realized, I kind of jumped back. My legs got weak and my heart was beating fast.”

This dad acting menacingly toward a teenager to show the reason why teachers should be allowed to carry guns and the whole scenario perfectly demonstrated why they shouldn’t. Average citizens with no law enforcement training shouldn’t be the ones to step up and intervene with a weapon if something goes down. All of those parents staying planted in their seats while shit went down proves it.

A statement to parents from superintendent Michael Ring said, “A parent in attendance attempted to conduct a demonstration to reinforce his belief that all school districts should have armed security guards. While the district firmly acknowledges that the demonstration was ill-conceived and inappropriate for the venue, we believe that the act was not intended to compromise the safety of those in attendance.”

But do the intentions really matter? A dad pulled a knife on a teenager during a school meeting. This is wrong. Every single thing about this is wrong.