In a video posted on what’s labeled as his personal account on social media platform X, state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters is trying to connect teachers’ unions – groups he long has railed against – to the recent terror attack in New Orleans.
At least one lawmaker, and one of Oklahoma’s teachers’ unions, have responded, saying Walters’ rhetoric is “shameful.”
The FBI said that early on New Year’s Day on Wednesday, 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen and a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, rammed his truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in the famed French Quarter of New Orleans and killed 15 people.
Wearing an “America First” hat while sitting inside his vehicle and filming his video, Walters said, “We also have to take a look at how are these terrorists coming from people that live in America?”
He then attempts to answer that question: “You have schools that are teaching kids to hate their country, that this country is evil. You have the teachers’ unions pushing this on our kid (sic). The radical left wants people to hate this country. They’ve completely destroyed the integrity of the FBI by making them more concerned about DEI (diversity, equality and inclusion) than about protecting Americans.”
“This is a real uncomfortable truth. I know the left is going to lose their mind. But listen, we cannot allow our schools to become terrorist training camps. We cannot allow our schools to teach our kids to hate this country. We cannot allow our kids to teach that this is an evil country (sic).”
A news release issued Friday from the Oklahoma State Department of Education – which Walters leads as state superintendent – that touted the video said, “After multiple terror attacks this week, State Superintendent Ryan Walters published a video on his X account with a warning against the radical left and teachers unions teaching students to hate their country.”
State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters is trying to connect teachers’ unions to the New Orleans terror attack earlier this week.
Neither in the video, nor in the news release, did Walters provide any example of Oklahoma schools or teachers who have taught children to hate the United States or have expressed that the nation is evil.
On X, state Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, D-Norman, declined to repost the video but did reference it in a post: “Didn’t think this dude would stoop any lower (who am I kidding? Yes, I did), but his recent car video (meant to start a firestorm, because that’s all this bloviating clown can do) is reprehensible.”
Ryan Walters’ history of rhetoric against teachers’ unions
It’s not the first time Walters has verbally attacked teachers’ unions. In May 2023, during a state Board of Education meeting, he aired a provocatively edited video that interwove speeches by national union leaders. He said the video was part of a “public awareness” campaign. The production of the video was paid for using taxpayer dollars.
That came just a few weeks after he called teachers’ unions “a terrorist organization” during a meeting of the Oklahoma House Appropriations and Budget Committee.
The Oklahoma Education Association issued a statement after Walters’ most recent video.
“Our compassion is with those who lost their lives and the loved ones from which they were stolen,” the statement said. “Using this tragedy as yet another political stunt to attack American public school educators is shameful.”
Walters did receive praise from others concerning the video. Steve Deace, a conservative radio host and author, said, “Wish we had more like my man here,” when commenting on the video. Walters placed Deace on a 10-person executive committee to oversee an ongoing update of Oklahoma’s social studies standards for schools, even though Deace has never lived in Oklahoma.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ryan Walters tries to connect teachers’ unions with New Orleans attack