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Teacher arrested 3 times this month in West Palm Beach

Hawazin Gridley Wright accused of harassing phone calls following arrest at pro-Palestinian rally
Posted at 5:24 PM, Nov 27, 2023
and last updated 2023-11-27 17:24:03-05

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — A teacher was in court Monday after he was arrested in West Palm Beach for a third time this month.

The three incidents he's charged with all occurred outside of school.

Hawazin Gridley Wright was arrested Nov. 19 when police said he interrupted a pro-Palestinian rally in downtown West Palm Beach while carrying a guitar and a concealed knife.

Arresting documents list him as a teacher who lived in Palm Beach County. Since the rally, he was released from jail but later arrested two more times.

Most recently, Wright was arrested Sunday after he was accused of making harassing phone calls and a written threat to kill or do bodily harm. This came after he repeatedly called and texted a woman he was dating who had cut off contact with him.

Photos provided by the West Palm Beach Police Department on Nov. 19, 2023, show Hawazin Gridley Wright running in a street while carrying a guitar as officers chased him.
Photos provided by the West Palm Beach Police Department on Nov. 19, 2023, show Hawazin Gridley Wright running in a street while carrying a guitar as officers chased him.

The arrest report states that Wright contacted the victim via a text message, telling her that "she needs to be careful how she talks to him," that she's "a dead woman walking" and that he wanted to "punch a Jew in the face."

Additionally, according to the report, he stated if she continued to ignore his phone calls she would "be dead by morning."

In court Monday morning, Wright said he wanted to clear the air about the allegations.

"I'm not sure when the alleged text messages occurred, but I never received any verbal directive from her to stop calling or texting her," Wright said. "I thought we were going to have dinner on Saturday night and then she just called the police on me."

Just two days prior to that arrest, Wright was arrested in downtown West Palm Beach on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of Ecstasy.

According to that arrest report, Wright was accused of harassing a woman downtown when a witness intervened.

WPTV has requested more information from the School District of Palm Beach County about his possible employment status.