Pulaski Schools' 4-year restraining order granted against Wisconsin Gays Against Groomers leader
PULASKI — A Brown County Circuit Court commissioner on Friday granted the Pulaski School District's request for a four-year restraining order against Wisconsin's chapter leader of Gays Against Groomers.
Jose "Rocky" Rodriguez is accused of harassing and intimidating the district, its staff and the Pulaski School Board, according to a school district brief filed in circuit court. Gays Against Groomers is a national organization with chapters in 18 states that criticizes and protests LGBTQ+ education in schools and minors attending drag shows.
In September, Rodriguez posted a video on TikTok with "harassing, intimidating, and threatening statements" against a school district staff member, the district overall and the school board, according to the brief.
Rodriguez stated in the video, "Pulaski High School and Pulaski School Board, we're coming for ya. This is not going to end very well for you, trust me." The video included images of a staff member and the high school and district addresses.
He doesn't live in the Pulaski School District or Green Bay and does not have any children in the school district, according to the brief.
Brown County Court Commissioner Phoebe Mix found sufficient evidence to grant the restraining order after the district's legal counsel, Geoffrey Lacy, showed the TikTok video in court. Pulaski Police Chief Kurt Kitzman testified that the police department had been investigating the threats.
The department is considering criminal charges against Rodriguez, Kitzman said in an affidavit filed in September.
The restraining order prevents Rodriguez from harassing the district or its staff. Under Wisconsin law, if someone violates a restraining order, they can be imprisoned for up to nine months and/or be required to pay a fine up to $1,000.
Rodriguez was also ordered to remove that video along, with a another from his TikTok account. He told the Press-Gazette "that's not gonna happen."
He doesn't currently have legal representation, but he said he would get an attorney if he has too.
"They're infringing on my First Amendment right, right there, and I'm not gonna let that fly," he said.
He wasn't at Friday's hearing because he was out of town and wasn't able to reschedule it, he said.
In the other video he's been ordered to remove, Rodriguez sought out the school district staff member from a video at the NEW Pride 2023 event held in September saying, "Let's go find this b----." In the caption of the video, he accused the staff member of "encouraging his students to visit his sexually explicit (Instagram) and TikTok pages."
These allegations were first made in September by Libs of TikTok, a right-wing social media account that "reposts a steady stream of TikTok videos and social media posts, primarily from LGBTQ+ people, often including incendiary framing designed to generate outrage," according to The Washington Post.
The school district investigated the allegations and found them to be unsubstantiated.
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"At present, we have investigated the extent to which the teacher’s personal life was brought into the school environment by the teacher and find no evidence to support that concern," Superintendent Allison Space wrote in an email to the Press-Gazette on Sept. 21.
"Allegations being made by those not connected with the district have not been supported with any evidence or any source ... At this time, I have no reason to believe that this teacher’s personal life has affected his job performance or that it poses any risks for the students," she continued.
Rodriguez said there hasn't been any contact with the district or the staff member since the NEW Pride event and that he doesn't plan to contact them.
He previously told the Press-Gazette he didn't mean for the videos to be threatening and that it was "internet lingo."
"That means that we have you on our radar. We know what the accusations are. We're watching to see what happens," he said in an Oct. 2 interview.
Space declined to be interviewed on the restraining order.
Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Pulaski Schools gets restraining order against WI Gays Against Groomers leader
