Activist Wants Justice For Harassed Campus Conservative
by Jim Brown
January 15, 2004
(AgapePress) - A California public high school is being accused of violating the civil rights of a conservative Christian student.Upset with what he viewed as an extreme liberal bias at Rancho Cotate High School, Tim Bueler decided to level the playing field by starting a conservative club on campus. Since the club was formed, the student has encountered some resistance.
Chris Carmouche is executive director of LaptopLobbyist.com, a grassroots public policy organization that wages web warfare against the liberal establishment. Carmouche says Bueler has been subjected to harassment by faculty members and threats of violence by students because of his conservative beliefs.
"Students -- in one case a gang of about seven students, and in another case a gang of about 12 other students -- approached [Bueler and] took umbrage to some of the comments that he had published under the purview of the club," Carmouche says. He claims the violence against Bueler was based on a written piece in which he called for stronger enforcement of the laws against illegal immigration.
"The students [who attacked Bueler] were Hispanic, and that is where the actual physical threats occurred," Carmouche says.
The internet activist says teachers were present at both incidents, and in both cases, Bueler asked the teachers for assistance. But rather receiving any help, Carmouche says, the conservative student was rebuked by the teachers.
Bueler has leveled charges of civil rights violations against the administration of Rancho Cotate High School. Carmouche says school officials have a vendetta against Bueler because he is an outspoken Christian. He also questions whether those officials are doing all they can to see that Bueler's attackers are punished.
"What's actually happened is the administration, in their own press release, has said that they are investigating the matter," Carmouche says, "but in regard to just the singular instance of the students, the principal, Mitchell Carter, has already 'talked' with the students who were involved with the assault and has taken no punitive action against the students whatsoever. So I don't quite understand the need to further investigate the situation."
Besides wanting to see the attackers brought to justice, Carmouche says he also believes those teachers who were involved in violating Bueler's rights need to be disciplined by the school.
