A Florida teacher has been arrested for the third time in a week, police say — once while carrying a knife at a pro-Palestinian rally in West Palm Beach.
Hawazin Gridley Wright was arrested Nov. 19 at the rally in West Palm Beach. He was since been arrested two more times, most recently on Sunday after he allegedly made harassing phone calls and sent a written threat to kill a woman he had been dating, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.
Wright, 43, is facing two felony charges and a misdemeanor charge, court records show, the Sentinel reported. They include resisting arrest, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of meth and aggravated assault.
Wright has worked as an English teacher at Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Boynton Beach, Florida, since 2017. It is unclear whether he is still employed at the school.
According to police records, three days after his first arrest on Nov. 19, a judge granted a temporary risk protection order requiring that Wright surrender all firearms because he “poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself/herself or others in the near future.”
On Nov. 24, Wright was arrested again after a witness told police that he saw Wright looking into cars and pacing back and forth, according to the affidavit.
The witness watched as Wright approached a woman sitting on a bench, according to the Sentinel.
Wright yelled at the witness and tried to follow the woman, and the witness stepped in again, telling him, “I guess I need to follow her home to make sure she gets there safe,” the police report read.
Wright then approached the man and shouted slurs and threats, and eventually took out a 12-inch baton and began “extending it in a threatening manner,” according to the affidavit.
Another witness then tackled Wright, who punched the man. Wright was arrested and told police officers that a mob attacked him for being a “gay white Muslim American male who is a Trump supporter,” according to the affidavit.
On Sunday, Wright was arrested for a third time for threatening his former girlfriend.
