Smyrna High SRO faces investigation over comments to gay student – Daily News Journal
SMYRNA — Smyrna High mother Yesenia Cruz wants a school resource officer fired after making insulting remarks to her gay son.
“Are you a girl?” the officer says on audio the son recorded on his phone while being interrogated by the SRO Matt King. “Are you a girl?”
‘I’m a male,” the son says.
“Are you sure, because you (expletive) fight like a girl.”
Cruz said she grounded her son for his role in a fight, and he’s serving a five-day out-of-school suspension until he returns to Smyrna High Thursday. The mother also wants the SRO held accountable for the way he spoke to her 14-year-old son, a freshman who several years before told her that he was gay.
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lisa Marchesoni confirmed the SRO is being investigated.
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“The RCSO is aware that SRO Matt King was seen on a highly edited video speaking inappropriately to a juvenile while investigating an assault on another juvenile, Marchesoni said. “The situation is being reviewed, and appropriate action will be taken.”
Although the audio has been edited by broadcast news to avoid the vulgar words, Cruz stands by the accuracy of the original audio after her son was in a fight because he was upset over how a girl had been treated by another male student.
The mothe also defended the recording’s accuracy on Facebook.
“I am the mother of the student in this audio and let me tell you this is not edited,” she posted. “I have the original recording! I AM NOT GOING TO REST UNTIL THIS SRO PAYS FOR HIS ACTIONS!”
Cruz questions if other students have faced similar interrogation by the SRO.
Note: The Daily News Journal will be updating this developing story.
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