The sexual abuse case between a black racial theory activist teacher and a high school student has come to an end. Attorneys representing the victim, a former student at Santa Barbara High School in California, announced Tuesday that the parties reached a $950,000 settlement on behalf of the complainant. Both the school district and teacher Matef Harmachis will pay.
The complaint was filed by the victim's attorneys in November 2020 against Matef Harmachi and the Santa Barbara school district. The indictment included charges of "sexual battery, sexual assault plus negligent supervision, negligent hiring and negligent retention." According to the lawsuit, teacher Matef Harmachis harassed and groped the complainant when she was between 16 and 17 years old. In turn, the school district allegedly failed to take the necessary measures to prevent these incidents from continuing, despite the teacher's peculiar background.
Before this civil lawsuit, in 2017 Harmachis was arrested and received a criminal conviction for misdemeanor battery against the student. The teacher and activist then pleaded not guilty. The school district removed him from classes and suspended him from employment with pay. In 2020 the state of California completely stripped him of his credentials to teach in schools and the Santa Barbara school district terminated his contract.
Abuse disguised by activism
Matef Harmachis is an activist who advocates critical race theories. He was a leader of a black activist association called "Ethnic Studies Now!" with a presence at Santa Barbara High School. He changed his original name to that of an Egyptian deity. According to Daily Wire research, he was known to be an insistent proponent of communism in his economics classes. In email exchanges with the Daily Wire, he called the student who reported him a "Karen."
According to this newspaper's findings, the professor took advantage of his political activism to approach students and sell them his communist and Afrocentric ideas. "His argument about racism was always a red herring to cover up his behavior and allow him to do whatever he wanted," explains Morgan Stewart, an attorney representing the latest victim. Harmachis' slogan was "If anyone objected, shout racism." "I saw no evidence of racism, on the contrary, I saw staff accommodating him at all times to avoid that accusation."
Speaking about the Black Radical Tradition, Matef Harmachis pic.twitter.com/c130tQbswa
— Sharon Tettegah (@stettegah) February 21, 2020
A history of mistreatment
In 2004 he was suspended for assaulting two students in his class at Dos Pueblos High School, who were wearing an Israel Police (Mishteret Yisrael) T-shirt. Local media reports describe Harmachis as a self-confessed anti-Semite. In that incident, he demanded that the student remove his shirt. He insulted and assaulted him. Because of this, he was transferred to Santa Barbara.
Harmachis was also reprimanded for inappropriate comments made to female students at the high school. "Just because you're good in bed doesn't mean you can eat in class," and "It's okay if you come to class naked" were some of those comments. Despite numerous complaints, the school district never took special precautions with Harmachis.
"I have never seen a case where a school district ignored so many red flags and allowed a dangerous individual to have unfettered access to vulnerable students," Stewart said in a statement reported by the Daily Wire. The school district did not fire Harmachis until 2020, even after he was convicted. He was suspended on two occasions, but never without pay, which according to the Daily Wire amounted to $60,000 per year.
