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Tennessee student suspended for defending trans student in school, says 'not ashamed'

Wilium Watson records TikTok of assistant principal calling cops over their defense of woman from bullies, says she was 'combative' and 'threatening'

Two Black school students in Knoxville, Tennessee, have been suspended after defending a trans student from homophobic bullies. On August 20, Wilium Watson recorded a TikTok of police being called to the school after she and her friend defended the unnamed student, leading to an encounter with the school's assistant principal. The principal then reportedly called the cops, seemingly over Watson's defense of his behavior.

The shocking incident is part of a surge in targeted incidents in American schools of late, where students have often been bullied for a variety of reasons. In June, we reported on the suspension of a football coach in Canton, Ohio, after he forced a Jewish student to eat pepperoni pizza as punishment. In February, we reported on the sacking of UCLA runner Chris Weiland, over a homophobic rant. In December 2020, a male student in Clyde, Texas was suspended after he wore nail polish to school, sparking a massive online campaign. 

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While it is unclear if the suspension of Watson and her friend was a racist incident, we do know that the bullies they stood up to faced no repercussions. Watson recorded the whole incident on TikTok, which quickly went viral and even led to angry comments against the school.

Why was Watson suspended?

On August 20, a trans student at Fulton high school in Knoxville was reportedly being bullied by two other students. The students reportedly "humiliated and harassed" the trans student in the hallway, in front of the entire school. Watson then intervened and stuck up for his classmate. The confrontation led assistant principal Beth Haun to call the police. Watson didn't confirm if Haun was the one who actually called the cops, that allegation was made by commentators on the TikTok video.

She did however appear to confirm this, by pinning a comment that had Haun's contact information at the top of the thread. Watson says the cops were called because he asked Haun a series of questions including, "Why am I getting suspended?", "Why is this happening?", and "Why are we facing repercussions?". Reportedly, an unnamed friend of Watson's was also involved in the confrontation. 

The two students, who are allegedly Black according to The Daily Dot were suspended for their actions, while the bullies got away scot-free. "And the bullies are not facing any repercussions, but we are. We are. We’re facing repercussions right now all because I stood up for what I believe in, and you know what I’m not ashamed," she said in the video. Subsequently, she was locked in one classroom while the trans woman was moved to another one. That's when Watson recorded the TikTok.

Then, a policeman can be seen in the video. Watson claimed Haun said he was being "threatening" and "combative" to the officer, and even alleged that he had used profanities. "So y’all just wanna focus on what people said instead of dealing with the problem at hand when people don’t feel safe in school and they literally threaten her life," Watson said. It is unclear what happened afterward, but it appears Watson was suspended. It's not clear if her friend was also suspended, as the Daily Dot claimed. 

The incident was confirmed by one Twitter user, who posted, "Yesterday 08/20/21 at Fulton high school in Knoxville Tennessee a student, Willum Watson was suspended for defending a trans woman from her two bullies who were humiliating and harassing her in the hallway in front of the whole school. This is not ok!" The individual later put out another tweet calling for a protest against Fulton High School. 

School goes off social media

Beyond the TikTok and tweet, there's no information on what happened. it is unclear if Watson's suspension is permanent, or if the bullies faced any repercussions for their behavior. We will let you know more when we do know. The incident has meanwhile led to a massive backlash against the school, and Knox County Schools, with many users taking to social media to protest the suspension of Watson.

So far, neither the school nor the district has commented on the matter. It appears as if the school has shut down its Twitter account though, and even taken down its Facebook page. A search for the assistant principal also reveals she has taken down her Twitter account. We could not find a public Facebook or LinkedIn account either. The Knoxville Police Department has also not addressed the matter.