SWHS incident raises real questions. It is time we got real answers.

We have been trying to believe that the encounter between Southern Wayne High School teacher Anthony Williams and Wayne County Sheriff’s Office deputy and school resource officer Albert Wood was nothing more than a misunderstanding.

We hoped that there was a logical reason that Williams, who has been employed at the school as a teacher since 2008 and is a coach who is well-known and beloved, ended up in a physical confrontation with the deputy when he was asked to remove a pocketknife he had on his person Feb. 16 during a SWHS athletic event.

Protecting the students. That should have been what this was about.

So, you would think that when it was discovered that Williams, a faculty member, had the pocketknife on him because he used it earlier in the day for a science experiment, and when he apologized and allegedly tried to return to the faculty parking lot to return it to his truck, the matter would have been over.

No harm. No foul.

But that is not what Williams and many eyewitnesses said happened that night.

But luckily you don’t have to guess. Here is a video of what happened at SWHS that evening.

Watch it yourself here. And when you see Williams pointing, that is, according to many of the eyewitnesses you can see in the video and Williams’ attorney, him pointing to where his truck is located as he tells the officer he is attempting to comply with the request to put the pocketknife there.

You probably read the press release issued by the Sheriff’s Office Monday.

We would have liked to. But it was not sent to us — even though we asked multiple times for a response from Sheriff Larry Pierce about what transpired that evening.

We even held our story a little longer than we would have liked to give Pierce time to do the right thing and to speak to the community. We did not want this to be about one side, one view. Maybe there was something the community and we did not know.

We don’t know exactly why Pierce did not answer our requests to ask questions about what happened that evening to make sure that Facebook posts and the rumor mill were not the news sources parents and students relied on for information.

But we suspect that the reason is that what the Sheriff’s Office wanted to do was to put out a statement about what occurred and NOT have to answer questions about the events of that evening.

And that is exactly what happened.

So we will ask the questions here — and let you decide what to think about the events of Feb. 16.

• How often are pocketknives discovered on parents, teachers, students or anyone else on school property? If we were to walk onto a campus right now, would we find no one with a multi-tool or a pepper spray? Have there been recent incidents where knives were “confiscated” at an athletic event? (We know that there have been.)

• Why was the principal or assistant principal not contacted after Williams identified himself as a teacher? A quick call would have cleared up his identity and why he was headed to the faculty parking lot.

• If Williams was an imminent threat, and a physical encounter with him was necessary because he was defying the officer’s orders, why wasn’t he arrested and charged on the spot? Why was Williams not notified of the actual charges until two days later, after accounts of the incident started to appear on social media?

• Where has the school district been? Why is Williams on paid suspension? If this is a respected member of the Southern Wayne High School staff, why have his principal and his superintendent not acted as a go-between to resolve this matter? 

• What was the lesson that Williams taught? Was it legitimate that he would have had a pocketknife on hand?

• Why did the resisting arrest charge get added several hours after the “public” incident report that only noted the weapons charge was submitted?

There are more than a few people who are upset by what is transpiring in the Williams case — and they are speaking up.

And, of course, there is a video.

There are accusations by eyewitnesses and Williams’ attorney that he was mistaken for a student — and that the deputy likely thought he was up to no good. But student or not, they believe Wood assumed, incorrectly, that he was being played by a thug who was not going to follow directions.

So, he reacted.

Only Wood knows for sure. But there was nothing in the deputy’s official narrative about physicality on Williams’ end or a verbal assault.

So, why did it escalate?

And why didn’t any of the people who are watching from the stands or seen running to intervene de-escalate the situation?

And what happened after the incident? No one is talking publicly about how the events were resolved that evening.

Was there an apology for the misunderstanding? Did SWHS principal Kevin Smith or one of his leadership team members clear up the confusion? Was Williams allowed to return to the game? Did Williams react in a threatening manner after the encounter? Was he a problem?

None of that information is contained in the WCSO’s report.

So, we don’t know. No one is talking. (And no one likely will now that Williams is filing a civil lawsuit.)

But when the news of the incident started filtering through social media — and SWHS students decided to gather peacefully at their flagpole to support him — we suspect the Sheriff’s Office had to double down.

We have a lot more questions.

Let’s start with this one.

We asked for a copy of the Sheriff’s Office report on the incident on Feb. 24 — the day of the student protest.

We were only given the first page of the report — on which there was no charge listed other than possession of a weapon on school grounds.

Here it is:

No interference with a peace officer. No resisting.

So, why was there no mention of the other charge on that “for public release” report?

Were we, a media outlet, deliberately misled? Was information that is public record withheld?

Made us wonder. It should make you concerned, too.

So, we made a formal records request for the complete document. Magically, it arrived late this morning — less than 24 hours after we published Williams’ attorney’s account of what happened and the story got picked up by the state news wire.

Here it is — and, wait for it, it includes the resisting arrest charge that was added to a completely different document than the one we were given Feb. 24 several hours after the first report was filed:

But you know what we still don’t have — you know, other than an explanation of how someone with a “weapon” in a full gym who is allegedly resisting arrest is not actually arrested? 

A comment from our sheriff.

We think we know the reason for that, too.

Pierce is up for re-election — and there are still four days left for a challenger to file.

The less said the better when you don’t want a community stirred up before an election.

Now, let’s be honest. It is unlikely that Pierce will not be re-elected. There are no real challengers on the horizon.

But he missed a chance here to do some good, to show the community that he is listening and that while he supports his officers, he also understands that sometimes mistakes are made or encounters take an unintentional bad turn.

It is the responsible way to look at a case where there is so much public outcry that gives a completely different version of the events of that evening.

Of course, we need to support our law enforcement professionals. They deal with danger and protect us every day — often at great personal risk.

And we need to acknowledge, too, that there are threats at events — bad actors who come on school campuses and create dangerous confrontations at our schools.

Don’t think they happen at yours? Google the name of your school and the word “fight” and see what turns up. You will be shocked.

But we can back the blue and decry repugnant anti-law enforcement rhetoric and still acknowledge that law enforcement personnel do not always get it right.

And that is what it is beginning to look like happened in this case.

We don’t need tension between races in our community. It’s not good for anyone.

But if we are going to prevent it, we need to be able to discuss incidents like this — and to do the right thing.

So yes, it matters what is on this officer’s Facebook page and what he has said after the incident — just as Williams’ character and reputation matter.

And yes, it matters that this was a pocketknife and whether there have been other pocketknives discovered on campus and how those situations were handled.

And yes, we have to acknowledge that the uncomfortable discussions about whether the outcome would have been the same if Williams was white are happening all over this county right now.

That is how we show our children that Wayne County is about fairness and justice and that our law enforcement personnel are about that, too.

This did not have to happen this way.

It could have been a moment for growth and a chance to build a bridge of trust.

That is how you talk about increasing crime, concerns for our children and how we want to keep all of our neighborhoods safe from not only the criminals, but the race-baiters on both sides who want us to be at each other’s throats.

Our sheriff and school leaders could have been the ones who brokered such a discussion.

They still can. And parents, students, teachers and community can make sure they do.

There is a school board election on the horizon, too.

This is not just about a lawsuit, getting rid of a problem and a man’s job anymore.

It is about what we do when there is reasonable doubt when we see something disturbing happen in our community.

We should keep a close eye on how this is handled.

And make no mistake. It is being handled right now.

Make sure the light shines brightly on what transpires.