According to information from the local sheriff's office, a middle school teacher in Florida has been arrested for allegedly encouraging and facilitating classroom fights among her students.
Angel Footman, 23 years old, is a sixth-grade teacher at Tallahassee's Griffin Middle School who was accused of facilitating the criminal behavior of a juvenile.
30-Second Clashes
A probable cause affidavit submitted to the Leon County Sheriff's Office alleges Footman did not stop any brawls and even outlined fighting ground rules for the children before they clashed.
The affidavit obtained by Insider states that just before a fight broke out, Footman gave the students a 30-second warning, during which time they were instructed not to make any loud noises or use their cell phones.
In the report, four female sixth graders from Griffin Middle School gave statements to a detective after taking part in the fighting. Sixth-grade students' names were blacked out of the paper.
In interviews with the investigator, it was found that the fights had been organized in advance.
The testimony also states that footage of at least three fights recorded by students in class at the end of March was examined.
According to CBS News, the affidavit indicates that a detective who studied the fights' video footage saw Footman sitting at her desk doing nothing to halt the violence. Apparently, she could be heard instructing the kids involved in the fights, saying, "No screaming, no nothing," and "Stop pulling hair" before she finally broke it up after a brief period of fighting.
Affidavit testimony also states that during one of Footman's planning periods, she asked two schoolgirls whether they wanted to "run it back" and continue the battle for another round.
Reportedly, two girls fighting were not even enrolled in Footman's class but were dragged from other classrooms to participate.
Teacher's Defense
On March 28, Footman told investigators that fights had occurred in her classroom, but she denied any involvement in arranging them or inviting girls from other classes to engage. She claimed she had weak classroom management abilities and that the conflicts erupted too rapidly for her to interfere.
Footman first said that her desk phone was not functioning when questioned why she had not called for assistance, but subsequently later retracted and stated it was working.
Last Friday, April 7, Footman turned herself up to the Leon County Sheriff's Office. A press release from the Leon County Sheriff's Office claims that she is now being held on several counts of facilitating the criminal behavior of a juvenile.
