The North Pole Police Department took the unusual step of jumping into the comment thread of a news report on the Fairbanks’ KTVF station’s Facebook page to explain an incident at North Pole High School that ended in the arrest of a parent who was trying to pick his daughter up after school last week.
The comment section on the news story at Facebook had just gotten started, with a couple of people saying that parent Keith Fons was in the wrong. The police stopped in on the page to comment and give their side of the story.
According to the police, a couple of incidents had happened at the school over two days, but it appears no one was ever in danger, although students were prevented from leaving campus after school one day for what has been described as 10 minutes and 20 minutes.
Fons videotaped himself going inside the school on Sept. 18 to try to get his daughter out, since he was not given any reason why she or other students should be detained. The police later arrested Fons for making people feel uncomfortable and they charged him with Fourth Degree Assault, although he did not touch anyone or threaten to harm them. One school staff member said she felt unsafe around him.
Fons had made several statements that contained curse words and was insistent that school officials release his daughter.
Here is the North Pole Police account of events:
Good Morning folks,
Some clarification on this issue. On the 18th NPPD responded to three separate incidents at the HS. The first was a report of a threat made on a bus the day before (17th.) After working with school staff to identify all involved this threat was found to be unfounded.
Next on the 18th, we responded to a report of a disturbance involving another NPHS student. This event was not related to the prior threat on the bus. The student was contacted near the football field and the situation was ultimately resolved peacefully with no arrests made.
Since this disturbance occurred just as students were getting ready to leave the school, staff opted to keep the students in a short “sit-tight” to give NPPD time to resolve the disturbance without flooding the area with other students and their vehicles. Since the students had already begun to leave and because the disturbance was localized near the football fields some students were paused at the front entrance of the school for a short time. They were not in any danger as a result of the other incident. These are the facts that precipitated our contact with Keith Fons. While we cannot share any further details about that situation at this time we would ask all community members to please exercise trust and work together with school staff and police for the safety of the students in our schools. When a dynamic incident occurs the worst possible thing someone can do is inject themselves into what is going on without having all the facts. This creates an unnecessary distraction for all involved and could compromise public safety in an emergency. Additionally, reacting to public safety professionals that are trying to keep a situation calm with hostility is never appropriate or helpful. It also sets a negative example for the students who need to trust their teachers should a dangerous situation arise in the future. Thank you for your time!
Any further questions may be directed to LT Smith at [email protected]
Fons says that it’s unreasonable for police to say they cannot talk about this incident, while at the same time going to great lengths to comment about him and what happened.
Officer Smith has cited Fons in the past for having Christmas lights on his vehicle during the holidays.
The police have argued their case in the court of public opinion, he says, by saying, “the worst possible thing someone can do is inject themselves into what is going on without having all the facts.”
Fons, who has set up a GoFundMe account to help him pay for his defense, may also have questions about whether police have created a scenario where he cannot get a fair trial in his community, due to the police comments.
View his video account of what he saw and did at North Pole High School at this earlier story, linked below. Caution: Spicy language in the video.
Home school your kids. Get the local politicians out of your day to day lives.
I agree get away from the lefts power to lock you up for anything they don’t like.
Just keep pushing you woke people and some day it will be settled.
Right, pay, with your time and money, to home school your kids… while also paying taxes and state funds for your share of the public education bureaucracy.
As long as you live in this nation, state. and your community, politicians exist in your day-to-day life.
We need school vouchers on the ballot to be able to vote with our feet and our money.
Who exactly are the public safety professionals mentioned in the statement? Let’s be clear about this. Is the department taking the position that public school staff are a kind of public safety authority or quasi officers of the law?
This “comment” doesn’t help, either. It appears that students get free negotiations with police after threatening others, but parents who get no answers to their questions as their students are being held get arrested for using f-bombs. I bet the students that required police responses used a few of those, too. I’ll also bet the DA is going to go full on against Mr. Fons, but the students who cause repeated police responses will continue unabated and without serious consequences.
Charging a person with assault based on “One school staff member said she felt unsafe around him” is outrageous. Concern and taking proactive action by a parent for their childs’ wellbeing is the most basic right and responsibility. The police demonstrated their incompetence in dealing with an emotionally charged incident, instead of defusing the situation, they escalated the situation. Be interesting to observe how they and their DA, justify the basis for their charge. For those families who are focused on maintaining safe environments and obtaining functional educations for their children, private schools and homeschooling remain the only options.
It’s also illegal. He has the right to free speech when in a public area. The outside of the school is a public area and the entryway may be too. Somebody else’s comfort zone doesn’t limit or negate his first amendment rights. If he loses this at the state level he should take it to the federal level. Institute for Justice does a lot of work like this pro-bono.
Dash–Free speech does not include threatening school officials who are acting within their official capacity during a bona fide “sit-tight” order determined by the school administration in conjunction with local police.
Did you miss the part where.. he threatened no one? Watch his video. He threatened no one.
Karen–his video is not the only evidence that was presented that resulted in his arrest. There were many witnesses that included school officials and other parents.
…and you know this how exactly?
Where you there?
Are you part of the investigative team, school staff?
Public schools are not free or public speech zones. The SCOTUS has repeatedly ruled public schools are limited speech zones. Just like a number of other state and federal sites. So this argument has no merit and just shows you have no idea what you are talking about.
Fons already knows this because he tried this same trash last year.
Though Scotus can repeatedly err it is created pursuant to the US Constitution like other creations. It does not negate the US Constitution and is not the process due for “amending” the Constitution articles.
This is what voter apathy gets you. Liberal/woke school board along with a bunch entitled woke teachers ie Karen’s. On top of that a woke police department. I hope that LT Smith email is overloaded with emails from upset residents of North Pole.
IOW, how dare you think you have any rights concerning control over your own daughter. Sounds like a load of malarkey, and the arrest is just plain silly. If the police were to arrest everyone around whom I feel “unsafe,” they would have to begin arresting every addict panhandling on the street.
So the kids were bundled together in one spot to make them an easy target, the school droids believe they are above “parents”, and have no responsibility to help the parent or answer questions, are effectively kidnapping the kids for a set period of time and are watching how parents accept this? Sounds like training to me. And that the uniforms have to explain why they acted as thugs? Yeah, homeschool your children or send them to a good private school.
Trust the teachers? Not sure about that. Many of these teachers are saturated in teaching DEI, LGBTQ, hate Trump, Green New Deal, and all of the other political rat poisons that infect our young people today. NPHS is where Mary Peltola and Grier Hopkins have campaigned, searching for fresh young minds to indoctrinate lies, half truths and the left-wing political agenda. Even though I don’t totally agree with Mr. Fons, his actions reflect the views on many frustrated parents who are losing the confidence of their children due to the Marxist view politics of the present.
When Hopkins and Peltola were at NPHS campaigning during class periods, I knew right then and there that this high school was being overrun by a leftist Democrat administration and faculty. It was calculated by the teacher’s union, from which Hopkins is employed. Go to the most conservative area in Fairbanks and indoctrinate their kids. That’s what this is really all about. Don’t be fooled, North Pole parents. They will work the kids until your voice is drowned out. That’s how it works. Mr. Fons, give your apologies for using foul language at the high school. Then, address the real reasons why you did what you did.
And please, vote for these two common sense men:
John Coghill….Borough Mayor.
Nick Begich …. Congressman
Both Coghill and Begich have our family votes. Hopkins and Peltola are teacher’s union candidates and must be defeated.
“Exercise trust”
Funny…I trust the people in my life who’ve earned my trust…public school teachers and officials are not in that category.
“Don’t share your opinions or ask questions” is what I think they meant to say, which was once considered an absurd thing to say to your fellow Americans, who should recognize the importance of free speech.
Lets talk about trust. In Uvalde, Texas the police response to a mass killing was beyond cowardly. Cops sat by for well over an hour while a depraved POS killed children.
In North Pole, Alaska how many times have we dealt with corrupt mayors? Or dispatchers who used APSIN to spy on people, illegally.
Given the fact that police and elected officials have repeatedly breached public trust who can blame a parent who will react in order to ensure their children are safe? Any cop who gets in the way of a parent who wants to protect their kids is going to find himself…. in a compromised situation.
Fons will likely find the local prosecutor will refuse to take this case to trial. If Fons did nothing to specifically threaten anyone the case becomes a first amendment issue. Our speech is a recognized liberty. North Pole police will soon find themselves sued, for damages if they have overstepped here. An investigation will also need to identify which of these police may have violated the constitutional rights of Fons. If they did, then they need to go bye bye.
“………Fons will likely find the local prosecutor will refuse to take this case to trial. If Fons did nothing to specifically threaten anyone the case becomes a first amendment issue……..”
If they prosecute the case (my bet is that they will), it will be to set the stage for an intended infringement of Mr. Fons 2nd Amendment rights. Even though this is a misdemeanor charge, your firearm rights are currently ended with misdemeanor domestic violence convictions. After all, if you can frighten somebody with just a few f-bombs, imagine such a monster owning firearms.
Mr. Fons would be well advised to defend himself legally with vigor and with no “trust” whatsoever.
Mr. Taylor, The State of Alaska would be the prosecution here. The state has a Republican governor, and AG. These are the folks the prosecutors work for. Folks may wish to contact the governor about this case, and ask that unless Fons threatened anyone, that these charges be dismissed because they are baseless. A good prosecutor will not take a blatantly bad case to a jury trial. Its a waste of time, and resources when there are real bad guys out there.
Last, this is not a domestic violence case.
“……..A good prosecutor will not take a blatantly bad case to a jury trial………Last, this is not a domestic violence case……..”
Correct on both counts, but (having served on multiple grand juries), I can write from personal experience that not all prosecutors can be described as “good”, especially if a school district might apply input against an individual. And while I’m not sure that misdemeanor assault applies in the denial of firearm ownership today, it can easily be applied retroactively just like misdemeanor domestic violence was.
Seriously??? A teacher felt uncomfortable around a dad that was trying to get his daughter. Yes, he swore, a lot of people swear. I would question why this teacher, that is so fragile, is working at a school in the first place!!! Let me tell you, if a person that meant to harm students did get into this school, I would definitely not want this person anywhere near my child. She would definitely be uncomfortable and would not be able to protect anyone!
Another word for usurped rights is remedy which is money paid by the usurper not the people of the community. The polite society has no privilege to be paid by the inhabitants. We can only pay polite society to do exactly their written duties of the emolument not imagined personal preferences, hobbies etc. when acting improperly usurping we cannot pay them for that time.
Fons crossed the line, he was upset and unhinged. I would have not tolerated that language and his gestures. If I was a teacher I would have called police too, he committed Assault 4. However, whoever is in charge at the school is not in the clear. They should have released his daughter to him. Worst of all, if there was an emergency they place all the students in the front of the school behind glass?? Talk about sitting ducks. Errors on both sides that need to be addressed/
No if you were a “good” teacher you would’ve explained to the parent(s) what was going. Your statement proves you don’t have the capacity to deescalate a situation. You only prove you know how to escalate a situation. Stick to your day job.
Deescalating is my day job, try again.
I do take objection to Mr. Fons foul language, however Jim with all due respect, calling the police on someone is generally viewed as an escalation.
The one thing everyone seems to overlook here are the preceding circumstances. Here is a parent, who is taking time out of his workday to pick up his child. It is clear when he arrived at the school nothing seemed amiss.(There was clearly no police presence to direct traffic away from the disturbance). Having spent many times sitting in school parking lots waiting for students, the longer the wait the more irritated you get. Clearly Mr. Fons was already in an agitated frame of mind, having to twiddle his thumbs waiting for his daughter to make an appearance, when he enter the school. Since the doors were not locked, he could not surmise that there was an issue.
The principal should have known that parents would be arriving to pick up students. It would have been much better to have a designated staff member stationed at the doors to answer questions and keep parents apprised.
In this case, if the school staff would have simply answered his question, instead of treating him as a nuisance and staring past him, this in my opinion would have never gone so awry. Arrogance and condescension are the wrong attitudes, when dealing with a parent, who is already stressed and trying to ascertain whether or not his child is safe. Understanding the circumstance and giving calm and precise instructions and information would have been the better approach and an opportunity for Mr. Fons to get a hold of his emotions. Calling police the police is always an escalation and should be the last resort. It is especially so if you call police AFTER Mr. Fons was no longer on the premises, clearly removing the perceived threat. I expected school staff to be better trained, as they deal with the public and hormonal teenagers on a daily basis.
A Taxpayer–parents had received notification that there was a sit-tight designation. The police were already at the school dealing with the reason why a sit-tight order had been issued.
Again I ask how you know that?
It stands to reason, that if a notification had gone out then Mr. Fons would have known what was going on and approached this differently. It is obvious from the video that he had no indication of why students were detained or that there was a safety issue. I surmise that there was apparently no obvious police presence visible when Mr. Fons arrived, cluing him in to anything out of the ordinary. In my opinion the school handled this poorly and now attempts to dump the blame on Mr. Fons, who conveniently is a detractor of a school board member.
Interestingly you claim there were other parents present (none visible in the video) yet none of them seem to have been hassled in this manner.
Fons did NOT assault anyone, and he had every right to know why they were detaining his daughter, especially given that he was right there ready to pick her up, and take her away from any danger, which BTW, we have not heard a single word telling just what the danger was, or why they were detaining her.
Nonetheless, unhinged behavior with all the profanity and making threats does no one any good. As stated, the school is not in the clear and we need answers on why the students were held and why they were set out like sitting ducks.
I am absolutely not condoning profanity in front of children, but nothing he did warranted an arrest and assault charge.
The cops and the school were totally out of line, and were sending a message to the community that “WE are in charge of your children, and you WILL comply…..peasant!”
Jim–the police did explain why the students were in sit-tight in that particular location in their news release published online and on the KTVF Facebook thread about the incident.
No, the police gave a highly prejudicial opinion statement, while claiming to be unable to make any further statements due to the ongoing nature of the investigation. Then they proceeded to do exactly that, filled with innuendo and statements like:
” Additionally, reacting to public safety professionals that are trying to keep a situation calm with hostility is never appropriate or helpful.” There was absolutely no reason to mention Mr. Fons by name, if their intent was to simple give the facts of the situation. It is also misleading in its implication that they made contact with him at the school. Mr. Fons as per the article did not encounter public safety officials UNTIL he was arrest AT HIS HOME! Teacher are not sworn officers and none of the individual in the video identified themselves as such. This is an attempt to try Mr. Fons in a public forum, while denying him his rights to defend himself and seriously taints the potential jury pool should this go to trial.
Conservatives hate police, go figure.
I don’t believe that there is any hatred, but I do believe that there is a serious lack of trust, not only with the police, but with the DA’s office, the schools, and pretty much everybody else, even each other (you can pretty much see that in the comments regarding just about any political story involving the Republican Party). And this extreme lack of trust shouldn’t be surprising. It has been growing for years, and there’s little hope that it’s going to get any better any time soon. Maybe that’s why the police are asking for “trust”. Don’t count on them getting it.
Liberals love totalitarians, go figure.
The problems with police are complicated. A certain percentage are bully-tyrants… compensating for something. Otherwise, most have good intentions but are reluctant to call out the bully-tyrants. Being a unionized public bureaucracy makes it difficult to cull bad apples; it makes them all look bad. Let’s pray for the good cops; we need them and they need our support.
That is an interesting interpretation considering “Defund the Police” was a battle cry in many liberal bastions. The entire notion of removing funding from law enforcement indiscriminately, speaks of a great deal of disdain and a wish for utter chaos. Forgive me if I do not subscribe to your theory here.
And you know this how? Straw men won’t keep you warm in winter, sweetie.
“they charged him with Fourth Degree Assault, although he did not touch anyone or threaten to harm them.”
I’m still confused as to how they conjured up and justified an arrest and assault charge out of that….
He did commit 4th degree assault. Getting in someone’s face and making threats is Assault 4. It’s a fairly low level crime but it does need to be addressed. He will have his day in court to explain himself.
Jim. What threat did he issue? Please quote it verbatim. If you can not provide the quote, then you are libeling the guy.
Once again, there were no threats, there was no assault or bodily harm.
There was only some totalitarians who were sending the message that “WE make the rules, and you WILL comply, or face arrest and charges.”
“…Or you will face false arrest because we can and are the boss of you today and we said so because we are not equal and you are not free men when we or our unarmed agents are are around in plain clothes. So what if we are separating you from your daughter until we feel like giving her back to you because the US Constitution and any alleged civil arights are suspended but unannounced by this democratic regime and the media our sick puppets”. you would know that if you weren’t so stupid. Now get out of this public place you paid for..”. is that your democrat democracy now?”
The video shows him trying to push into people, and comments from others said the same on various stories, apparently he pushed her multiple times according to some.
This site is just taking him at his word and printing it.
Just like how everyone in prison is “innocent.”
Opening a door is not pushing. Egress doors are to specification. They are not cheap and thought went into their specific public use. I am a small woman. I have to pull pretty hard to get a door open. It is irrational to impute bad motives to door use. Engage in irrational thinking. We shun the insane and don’t choose them to educate the publics’ children. Coming and going of the public is part of the contracted job and expectations and service to the public(s). A reasonable businessman knows expectations of access to the public. Regardless the welcome mat is out and paid for by the cursing and effeminate, fragile public during certain hours.
The only pushing that is on the video is Mr Fon trying to open the door to get his daughter. If you have another video showing him pushing or shoving, show it. . Even the police said he didn’t touch anyone. All the school had to do was explain the reason they were holding the students and it would have deescalated the problem. Mr Fons should have had a little more diplomacy also. But there is no way he should have been charged.
I swear they hire these cops by shoe size. What a bunch of bull.
All law enforcement agencies in Alaska have openings, join andshow us how its done!
There’s a reason for the job vacancies “Jim”. LEO’s are dropping out of Alaska DPS specifically and at a high rate. Figure it out. It starts at the top.
Fons was arrested and charged wits a violation of AS 11.41.230(a)(3). Assault in the Fourth Degree.
(a) A person commits the crime of assault in the fourth degree if
(3) by words or other conduct that person recklessly places another person in fear of imminent physical injury.
(b) Assault in the fourth degree is a class A misdemeanor.
He was not arrested simply because he “was making people feel uncomfortable” as the story claims.
“……..by words or other conduct that person recklessly places another person in fear of imminent physical injury……..”
A simple glare with perfect silence can be “conduct that person recklessly places another person in fear of imminent physical injury”. I’ve been told more than once that I terrified someone by simply looking at them (some if us aren’t all that pretty). Charged with such a “crime”, you’d better get a good lawyer, because getting convicted on that one looks like a gimme to me.
Exactly, I haven’t defended the school, I just said Assault 4 was committed.
“Allegedly”!
Since the investigation is still ongoing and no charges have been filed, as far as I know, your assertion in the affirmative as to “assault 4” is premature. If you wish to make an opinion statement then please do so choosing more appropriate wording.
Was that a violation or criminal charge? Does a father’s,s rights expunge at the nervous exhalation of an easily frightened public employee? Look at the job description. The accuser needs to be examined for being fit for the job. She said it was too frightening when humans curse near her. They curse and have children. She does not have the right and neither do you to tell anyone else what to do. God did not give you the right to compel any behavior from any one else because we are free and equal regardless of our desire to be despotic.
I’m
Sure this is going to go over good with North Pole residents. The cops involved should transfer now.
No they shouldn’t, they were doing their jobs and not playing favorites with anyone.
Your nuts jim. He didn’t threaten anyone. The tax payers own that school. The teachers are our employees.
The police department is taking to Facebook now? I think that was very unprofessional and out-of-line for them to put that statement on a social media site. Very interesting. I feel for the humanity-loving people in that area that have to deal with all of that libertard leftism.
I believe they are hoping to intimidate and therefore censor political speech during a pre election period. Profound intentional lack of support for what the US Constitution says.
My neighbor displays his Christmas lights all year long. Should he be arrested?
That is as laughable as arresting someone for swearing.
“…….My neighbor displays his Christmas lights all year long. Should he be arrested?……”
Perhaps, if you claim fear that they might start a fire that will consume your home, and the display of Christmas lights during fire season is “reckless”. At the very least, maybe you can get the police to visit him, try to negotiate with him (like they do with violent students) or manipulate him into anger so they can arrest him or beat him up.
Of course, in a town named North Pole, the display of Christmas lights year round might well be a civic requirement (in order to support the Chamber of Commerce), so when the police show up, it might be you headed to jail if you don’t have yours brightly glowing……….
The wrong person was arrested. The unhinged & emotionally fragile school safety official who allowed this situation to unfold should have been arrested, or, at the very least should be sent packing down the road.
Perhaps I am wrong here but I have heard testimony that men constantly scan particular situations especially for protecting his family to include the females in his family.perhaps that is a perverted lie. Perhaps women have finally convinced all genders that regardless of situational fear of cursing we can and do slay any dragons who are malevolently lurking harmfully about. However this protective behavior has not yet been completely cured from the average Alaskan man. Thank you men for your service to date. May they continue regardless of spurious, alternative so ial theories lately.
The Scamdemic proved the public indoc……….er……. “education” system is not needed and that parents can manage homeschooling their kids.
Sounds very much to me as though this is another instance of “speech is violence” that the left loves to scream about. Maybe next we will see some cancelling of conservative speakers …. I suspect Savannah Fletcher is taking lessons here.
So one person’s feeling of being unsafe trumps ( can I use that word? ) another person’s first amendment rights ?
“While we cannot share any further details about that situation at this time..” but then go on at length to include their self-serving talking points.
They have now taken Mr Fons to trial in the court of Social Media and public opinion.
This should be enough to have his case dismissed. Displaying bias in public is telling, North Pole PD. You can do better.
AT LEAST THEY DIDN’T SHOOT HIM !
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