A little mother-son bonding time for Colorado residents Justine Myers and 16-year-old Nate has exploded into a suspension from school and a looming hearing over an anonymous report of a “threat.”
The news site AmmoLand.com reported the controversy was triggered by a social-media posting of a video in which the mother gives her son shooting training:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=24&v=N5VihgVyKxU
Nate is seen in the video listening to instructions and legally firing a handgun.
A short time later, however, police showed up at their door.
“Nate had posted on his Snapchat that he was going shooting with his mom,” the report said.
“After showing the videos to the police officers and explaining that they’d simply gone on a mother-son outing to train with their legally owned firearms, the police stated that they had done nothing illegal and were well within their rights. They also determined Nate was not a threat to himself or anyone else, and went on their way.”
But the AmmoLand.com said that wasn’t all.
“This morning Justine woke up to a voicemail from Thompson Valley School District where Nate is a junior at Loveland High School in Loveland, CO. The voicemail informed Justine that a report had come in claiming Nate was a threat to the school and he was not allowed to return until further notice.”
The report of a “threat” likely came through a program called Safe 2 Tell, which facilitates anonymous reports.
“Justine immediately contacted the school assuming she could easily clear things up, especially since the police had already assessed the situation and realized no one had done anything wrong or made any threats. She was wrong. The school not only refused to provide her with more information about the ‘threat,’ but they refused to provide Nate with schoolwork so he doesn’t get behind,” the report said.
Their demand? A hearing “where Justine will be allowed to defend her son against SEVEN school officials who will be in attendance to, as she was told, ‘make their case.'”
AmmoLand.com explained the school likely is within its rights, since the practice has been to treat anonymous Safe 2 Tell claims as if they are real “even if the report is completely false.”
The report noted students call the program “Safe 2 Swat,” referencing the act of “swatting,” a criminal harassment tactic of deceiving an emergency service into responding to another person’s address.
