LETTER: Story about teacher accused of terror threats was ‘suspect’

To Ozaukee Press:

I read with interest the news story in last week’s Ozaukee Press about a Jewish teacher in Grafton accused of making “terrorist threats.” It was presented, of course, as sensational to grab our attention.

But I found the article suspect and lacking in balance. There is an increasing antisemitism movement in the U.S. Young readers today will probably not know who Joseph Goebbels was (Hitler’s extremely successful anti-Jewish propaganda minister), but their parents and grandparents may. Goebbels was a terrific purveyor of hate and white supremacy.

  Ironically the swastika symbols used today to torment (and terrorize) the Grafton teacher were originally symbols carved into the outside of a Catholic school in Austria that Adolf Hitler attended as a youth. Ironically, his best friend then was a young Jewish boy. This was before the swastika became a symbol of the Nazi party and antisemitism and the hate groups of white supremacists today.

And you might wonder how the “terrorizing” of a Jewish Teacher in Grafton might be affected with swastika symbols.

Has no one read lately about the increasing violence to the Jewish temples and schools in Milwaukee? Does anyone think that a Jewish family in Grafton or Port Washington has a right to be worried or concerned or angry? How do you suppose the Holocaust came to be? Does a seventh grade teacher have to be concerned about the parents of the students in his class who terrorize in this manner? Is this not a type of psychological “bomb” threat report presented by a newspaper?

In 2022, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security’s field hearing on “countering violent extremism, terrorism and antisemitic threats in New Jersey” in October, emphasizing the dangers of antisemitism.   

Besides taking legal action, the SPLC continues the Intelligence Project Report monitoring hate groups and other extremists throughout the U.S. and exposing their activities to the public, the media and law enforcement.

I would suggest to readers that they learn more about the hate group activity monitored by the SPLC at splcenter.org.

Barbara Patterson

Port Washington

Editor’s note: The Ozaukee Press news story about the charge against David Schroeder, a seventh grade teacher at John Long Middle School in Grafton, was based on a criminal complaint filed by the Ozaukee County District Attorney’s office. According to the complaint, Schroeder, after finding swastikas sketched on a piece of paper in his classroom, threatened students by saying he owned 17 guns and “would ‘F’ them up.” Other threats against students were detailed in the complaint. Schroeder was arrested by Grafton police and charged with making a terrorist threat, a felony.