In a surprising turn of events, a British teacher found himself entangled in a controversy after showing his A-level students videos of former U.S. President Donald Trump. This incident led to accusations of posing a risk to children and even resulted in a referral to a government counter-terrorism program.

The teacher, in his 50s, from Oxfordshire, shared with his students footage of Trump’s inauguration as part of a lesson on U.S. politics. However, this educational decision took an unexpected turn, as reported by the Telegraph.

Henley College, a sixth-form institution in Henley-on-Thames with over 2,000 students, flagged the situation to the local child safeguarding authority. This prompted further action, resulting in the teacher being referred to Prevent, the UK government’s counter-terrorism initiative, as a matter of priority.

Choosing to remain anonymous, the teacher expressed his shock to the Telegraph, stating, “They likened me to a terrorist. It was completely jarring.” He further described the ordeal as “dystopian, like something from a George Orwell novel,” highlighting the bewildering nature of the situation.

The teacher, who does not wish to be identified, told the Telegraph: ‘They likened me to a terrorist. It was completely jarring.

‘It’s dystopian, like something from a George Orwell novel.’

Showing the videos was suggested as amounting to a ‘hate crime’ in one document seen by the Telegraph. 

The politics lecturer was accused of causing his students, aged 17 and 18, ’emotional harm’.

The teacher showed his class videos of Donald Trump’s inauguration in January and was then accused of having ‘extremist views’

Henley College (pictured) first reported the teacher to their local child protection authority who recommended they refer his case to Prevent, the government’s counter-terrorism programme

The teacher did not take the terrible allegations lying down however, launching a grievance procedure against the college.

Despite this, he was still effectively forced to resign his £44,000-a-year post but received a £2,000 payoff.

 The Free Speech Union has said they believe the laws that were initially intended to protect children from murderers and rapists were being twisted to go after adults with unfashionable opinions.

The teacher’s case was an example of child safety protocols ‘being weaponised to silence someone for political reasons’, the Union said.  

Henley College began its investigations in January 2025 following two complaints by students in his class which accused him of ‘biased’ and ‘off topic’ teaching.

The teacher was alleged to have shown videos of Donald Trump and his campaign ‘propaganda’ and other videos which were ‘unrelated’ to what was being taught.

This made a student ‘feel quite uncomfortable’. 

The teacher said: ‘It was just terrifying; just mind-boggling. We were discussing the US election, Trump had just won and I showed a couple of videos from the Trump campaign.

The teacher also showed this music video – Daddy’s Home by Roseanne Barr, a US comedian and Trump supporter, with Tom MacDonald, a Canadian known as the Maga Rapper

The video was released in celebration of Donald Trump’s election victory and was put on at one of his student’s requests, the teacher said

‘Next thing, I was accused of bias. One of the students said they were emotionally disturbed and claimed to have had nightmares.’

The teacher, a practising Catholic, admits he is a Republican supporter but said he was ‘not an extremist’ and that his views are mainstream.

In return, he said the college itself has a ‘complete Left-wing bias’ and does not ‘tolerate anything about Donald Trump.’ 

On the College’s referral to the safeguarding Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), a report said the teacher’s views ‘could be perceived as radical’ and told the school they should refer him to the counter terrorism programme, Prevent.

The report added that his behaviour ‘could cause harm to a child’ and that there could be a ‘criminal offence’ that could amount to a ‘hate crime’ and that it was possible that promoting his views could be considered ‘radicalisation’.

The teacher said: ‘I felt completely insulted at the suggestion I was a danger to children.

‘It impacted my mental health. I had to see a counsellor. It upset my physical health. It was absolutely appalling. It really overwhelmed me.’

By April he was accused of misconduct in a formal letter, his alleged offence was to have caused students ’emotional harm’ by showing them the ‘inappropriate content’ and videos and presenting ‘potentially extremist views’ with a ‘lack of balance’.

‘I felt completely insulted at the suggestion I was a danger to children’, the teacher said

Henley College declined to comment on the teacher’s case but said it was committed to safeguarding students

It cited complaints made by his students as evidence towards this. 

One of the videos in question was a music video – Daddy’s Home by Roseanne Barr, a US comedian and Trump supporter, with Tom MacDonald, a Canadian known as the Maga Rapper.

The YouTube video was suggested to him by one of his pupils.

The teacher said he could not understand how showing this video could lead a student to be ’emotionally disturbed’. 

He had been switched to teach politics in September 2024 amid staff shortages, previously teaching business studies at the college and receiving praise for his work.

He believes that a group of students targeted him since this take over.

Now, the teacher is working part time as a supply teacher while hunting for a full-time post.

He has extensive family ties to the US but insists his Republican views are not extremist. 

There was also a balance involved in the videos he was showing, he claimed contrary to their allegations, adding that he had shown videos of Kamala Harris to the class too.

Five Trump related videos had been put on for the class before the complaint was made, he said. 

In April, while he was being accused of misconduct, he wrote a letter to US vice president JD Vance, complaining of ‘communist-style silencing’ and his school but he received no reply, unsure if Mr Vance ever received the letter.

Looking for further support, he contacted the Free Speech Union (FSU) who claimed in his defence that he was a victim of ‘bullying and harassment’.

They pointed out that the accusation that he had shown a ‘genocide video’ to children was bogus as the video was part of the set teaching materials provided by the Holocaust Education Trust.

Henley College, said: ‘The Henley College does not comment on individual allegations or ongoing investigations.

‘We are committed to safeguarding the wellbeing of all our students and staff, and follow statutory safeguarding procedures in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025.

‘Allegations are handled with due care, in accordance with statutory guidance, with appropriate support provided to all involved.’