Indiana public school administrator Jenny Oakley was the subject of numerous threats following a segment that appeared on Fox News. Doug McSchooler / Raw Story
A Georgia man’s assertion — first featured in a Raw Story investigation — that people should punch, kick, urinate on and throw feces at an Indiana public school administrator is not “extreme and outrageous” but merely “ill-mannered and rude,” according to the man’s response to a federal emotional distress lawsuit against him.
The email from Samuel P. Warren of Canton, Ga., to Jenny Oakley of Martinsville, Ind. — sparked by a Fox News report earlier this year — also included a passage where Warren wondered why Oakley hadn’t found a “tall tree with a short piece of rope.” Warren expressed hope that someone would push Oakley out of an airplane at 30,000 feet.
The legal response denied the email was “extreme and outrageous conduct,” a part of how Indiana law defines intentional infliction of emotional distress, which Oakley and her husband Justin allege in the lawsuit.
RELATED ARTICLE: ‘They blew up my life’: Fox News, a hidden camera and threats to an Indiana school administrator
Warren’s email was sent soon after the Jesse Watters Primetime show on April 12, where a segment of the Fox News program used heavily edited hidden-camera video, obtained under false pretense, to accuse public school administrators of, as Watters put it, “stealthily teaching students principles associated with Critical Race Theory.”
Critical race theory is a highly controversial front in the culture wars that, at its core, alleges systemic racism in America. Oakley, a mid-level administrator, said that at the time, she didn’t even know much about critical race theory, which is generally not taught below the college level but has become a catch-all term for some conservatives who generally object to public schools teaching about racial equity or social justice movements.
Oakley said that in the clip of her shown by Fox News, she was talking about “social and emotional learning,” often mistakenly conflated with critical race theory. Social and emotional learning is part of Indiana’s state public education standards.
RELATED ARTICLE: Indiana couple featured in Raw Story investigation alleges Fox News viewer made violent threats: lawsuit
Warren’s email prompted Oakley and her husband, Justin, to file a police report. Many more emails and social media posts, phone calls and unusual activity outside their home prompted the Oakleys to buy a Doberman they named Zeus to help protect their family. Justin Oakley said he got out his guns for the first time in years.
Through public records requests, Raw Story revealed that at least two other public school administrators in the Fox News report received the same email from Warren. They are not part of the lawsuit.
Accuracy in Media, a Washington, D.C., non-profit that promotes using tax money for private schools, produced the videos used in the Fox News report. Oakley said two women showed up unannounced at Metropolitan School District of Martinsville administration building, presenting themselves as a politically liberal couple that just moved to the area and were exploring schools for their first grader.
Neither Fox News nor Accuracy in Media provided answers to questions from Raw Story for its original story.
Warren’s email arrived 11 minutes after the Jesse Watters Primetime show ended on Fox News.
Among the statements Warren made in his email to Oakley:
“How is it that you still have a job and not found your way to a tall tree with a short piece of rope??”
“Everyone you ever encounter after that should spit in your face, fling their feces at you (with impeccable aim), punch you,knock you down, kick you, piss on you and hold you there for similar treatment by everyone waiting in line for their turn — you despicable sad excuse for a sub-human being.”
“With any luck, someone else on the airplane will recognize you and jettison you from the aircraft at 30,000 feet over the ocean at least 200 miles from any land.”
“There is a special place in hell for which you richly deserve to be consigned to for eternity — there is no hope of redemption.”
The response to the lawsuit said Warren’s behavior was not outside of legal boundaries.
“While likely ill-mannered and rude, Mr. Warren’s comments do not give rise to the extreme and outrageous standard required by (the law),” the response says.
Warren’s response also argues that his speech is protected by the First Amendment because Oakley, the school district’s director of e-learning and literacy, is a “public official.”
The Oakleys are asking for a jury trial, compensatory and punitive damages and attorneys fees.