HS assistant principal dismisses students from conservative speaker’s talk

Ben Shapiro (Brietbart.com, Daily Wire) was in the middle of a talk to 450 high school students at Otay Ranch HS on Tuesday when an assistant principal suddenly intervened, saying that Shapiro had “crossed a line.”

Dean Nafarrete, who also serves as the school’s Title IX officer, informed everyone he would “dismiss the students” because “the line” was Shapiro’s opinions on “the realities of income mobility in the United States.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Shapiro,” Nafarrete said. “I’m at a point right now, where, quite frankly, I’m going to dismiss the students … With all due respect, Mr. Shapiro, Mr. Shapiro represents a narrative that he’s providing to all you guys based on his opinions, what he believes, what he wants to share with all of you. I know that the education was there for all of you to understand, the left side, right side, whatnot, but also the opportunity was allowed for him to impress some of his opinions on certain things … I think what this is getting into now, it’s starting to cross a line.”

Breitbart’s Big Government reports:

Shapiro interjects, “What would that line be?”

Nafarrete continues, “For those students who would like to be dismissed, I’m going to allow you to go ahead and do so at this time.”

Many of the students booed Nafarrete’s announcement. Approximately half the students left.

As they left, Shapiro told Breitbart News, Nafarrete stated that he had to let the students go in order to “protect” their feelings, since many came from low-income homes. Shapiro responded that Nafarrete was doing them no favors by coddling their feelings, since reality still exists; earlier in the speech, Shapiro had told the students that the greatest obstacle to their own success was making good choices, rather than external factors.

Just over half the students stayed to hear Shapiro complete his question and answer session. Shapiro then told the remaining students that clearly he wasn’t a paid employee of the state of California; if he had been, he would be able to leverage his political beliefs on them utilizing taxpayer dollars to do it, just as their teachers did.

Shapiro, whose speech was sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation, said that Nafarette had informed him prior to the speech that “several of the school’s teachers were upset with the prospect of [him] coming to the school.”

Shapiro countered that the school should get used to hearing a contrary viewpoint “once per year, at the very least.”