Law enforcement takes action on Beaufort Co. parent who threw chicken feed

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office served the Beaufort County parent who threw chicken feed at school board members and harassed two Hilton Head Island Middle School teachers a no-trespass order for all Beaufort County school properties Friday, according to BCSO spokesperson Angela Viens.

David Cook was served at 3:35 p.m. Friday afternoon and will only be allowed to pick-up and drop-off his children. For any additional access to school campuses, he must contact Director of Protective Services David Grissom, according to Viens. The no-trespass order is effective at the time of his being served and will last indefinitely. It can only be rescinded at the request of the school district. He will still be allowed to attend school board meetings, according to Viens.

Cook could be criminally charged if the no-trespass order is violated, according to Viens. She said there is no mechanism for him to appeal the notice.

“I’m very grateful,” Kathleen Harper said. “(I’m) very grateful to everyone who worked and took action to protect Beaufort County educators.”

Harper was one of two Beaufort County teachers who told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette about Cook’s harassment earlier this month. Both teachers also spoke publicly about their experiences at the school board meeting Aug. 1.

They detailed how in the wake of the movement to ban books in Beaufort County schools, employees have been labeled as sexual groomers — predators who build a relationship with a child to abuse them — on social media, reported to law enforcement officers, targeted in public information requests and harassed on social media, in-person and in front of their bosses. Much of the harassment comes from Cook, a Hilton Head Island resident whose children attend Beaufort County public schools.

Beginning May 31, the district submitted evidence of email and social media harassment from Cook to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, who are actively investigating, according to reports obtained through a Freedom of Information Act submitted by the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. Harper filed her own report June 2, and there are incident reports with both The Beaufort County School District and Harper as the victim of Cook’s harassment.

“We’re not going to allow someone to come in and breach the overall purpose and intent of a school,” Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said earlier this month. “We’re not going to allow it.”

The papers reached out to Cook via phone, email and text and he replied via text that he had no comment.

BCSD spokesperson Candace Bruder declined to comment.