Teacher put on leave after dressing up in devil costume and saying ’hail Satan’ to students

A high school teacher in Mesa, Arizona is now on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the local school district following a confrontation over the teacher's Halloween costume.

NBC affiliate 12 News reported that the teacher — who has not yet been publicly named — wore devil horns on his head, carried a trident, and said "hail Satan" to several students who entered his classroom while waving the trident over their heads. 10th grader Nathaniel Hamlet told 12 News that the routine offended him due to his Christian faith, and that the teacher continued despite Hamlet's repeated attempts to get him to stop.

"I said, 'Don't do that to me' and I pushed [the trident] away, maybe three or four times and he still said it and still did it," Hamlet said.

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Hamlet's told his father, Chris, and his principal, about the incident. The following day, the teacher was not in the classroom, and reportedly hasn't been back at the school since the confrontation.

"I was livid because I am a Christian as well, obviously," Chris Hamlet said of his son's confrontation in the classroom. “What really tipped it over for me is, he kept telling him no, and he and the teacher kept persisting."

If you're gonna keep the Christian stuff out, then you got to keep the devil worshiping stuff out, period," he added.

12 News confirmed with the school district that the teacher is currently on paid leave.

"Mesa Public Schools administration was notified of the alleged incident at Mesa High School late Wednesday afternoon after school hours," a district spokesperson stated. "Our Human Resources department began the investigation Thursday morning and placed the teacher on paid administrative leave pending the result of the investigation. The investigation remains ongoing."

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Watch the 12 News segment below or via this link.