Gabriel Gipe is a Sacramento, California, high school teacher who was recorded in an undercover sting by the conservative activist group Project Veritas saying he tries to turn his students into “revolutionaries” and has an Antifa flag hanging in his classroom. You can watch the video later in this article.
The School District is now apologizing for Gipe’s behavior.
“Some students have shared that the teacher has stated he believes students will move to the left as a result of his class,” Chris Evans, the superintendent of the Natomas Unified School District, wrote in a lengthy report. “That is unacceptable. Students are the ones caught in the middle of this. To those who have felt uncomfortable at any time in the past 3 years, we apologize.”
In an email, Project Veritas wrote, “Project Veritas released a new video…exposing a Sacramento, California AP Government teacher, Gabriel Gipe, who boasts about politically indoctrinating Inderkum High School students…These statements are nothing short of shocking. Every American should be alarmed that individuals like Gabriel Gipe could be teaching their children. In this case, Gipe is in charge of teaching a college-level government course to high school students, which makes it even worse.”
Gipe was asked for comment about the sting video by Project Veritas while walking his dog. He accused the person of harassing him for asking for his response. The Project Veritas employee was initially told to leave the school or they would call the police when he went there to show the district the undercover video.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Gipe Was Recorded Saying He Has ‘180 Days’ to ‘Turn’ Students ‘Into Revolutionaries’
Evans confirmed that a group had released “an undercover video that has been covered extensively. In this video, a teacher at Inderkum High School was recorded sharing his educational approach that is disturbing and undermines the public’s trust.”
According to Evans, the district is aware of “the approach of the video and the editing used to create the video.”
He stressed the staff would follow due process and “the principles of democracy,” and spent the previous two days investigating the teacher “and his classroom environment.”
The video shows Gipe, an AP government teacher at Inderkum High School, speaking with a person identified as a journalist.
“I have 180 days to turn them (students) into revolutionaries,” Gipe says. Asked how, he responds, “Scare the f*** out of them.”
He said that Sacramento’s Antifa effort is loosely organized, but “when there’s right wing rallies and stuff, we’ll create an opposite to that.” He said there’s no official membership list.
Gipe said in the video that he gives students extra credit if they go to protests and other events. “I do it for extra credit… that encourages them to do it.” They write a reflection.
Gipe admitted, “I have an Antifa flag on his wall. A student claimed it made him feel uncomfortable.”
He said, “Well, this Antifa flag is meant to make fascists feel uncomfortable, so if you feel uncomfortable, I don’t really know what to tell you; maybe you shouldn’t be aligning with the values that this is antithetical to.”
He also admitted that he has a Mao sign in his classroom.
Gipe previously worked as a hotel assistant, for Starbucks, and at a solar company, according to Rocket Reach, which says he has a degree in history from San Francisco State University. His LinkedIn page is deleted, as is his Twitter page.
2. The Teacher, who Says He’s Been Doing Political Organizing Since Age 13, Was Placed on Paid Leave & the District Is Seeking to Fire Him
The teacher was placed on paid leave “because of his actions and choices in the classroom,” Evans wrote. In his statement, Evans wrote that Natomas Unified “will be taking the legally required next steps to place the teacher on unpaid leave and fire the teacher.”
The district “was able to learn more facts essential to the next steps.” The district notes that, in 2018 and again in September of 2020, it emailed to all staff members “political action guidelines,” which make it clear what teachers can’t do.
For example, they can’t post or distribute materials that advocate for or against a ballot measure on school property during work hours or copy at district expense. They can’t engage in political campaign activity during working hours or in an instructional setting, and so on.
“From the evidence gathered so far, the teacher violated the district’s political action guidelines, which are aligned with Board Policy and California Education Code. For example, in addition to inappropriate statements from the video, the teacher posted a sign supporting a personal decision for at least local political issue, and possibly more. It has also been confirmed that he DID receive the 2020 September Political Action Guideline email and did open it,” the district wrote.
In the video, Gipe says he and his wife “have been political organizers,” and he’s been “organizing since I was 13” for a “ton of different organizations.” He said he’s been “on the front lines,” but took a step back.
In Sacramento, he said, “we’re surrounded by a bunch of right-wing rednecks.”
In addition to speaking favorably about Antifa, he also touted the group North Cal Resist and said he wanted students to get familiar with organizations.
“I’m not asking you all to be on the front lines, But I am asking you to be involved,” Gipe said of what he tells students.
“I post a calendar every week.”
3. Gipe Marked Student Assignments With Stalin & Castro Stamps, the District Alleges
The district wrote that the walls of Gipe’s classroom “were cleared of all posters and signage.” Not all of the material was inappropriate, but the district “believes the physical learning environment can best be rebuilt from a total fresh start,” Evans wrote.
He said the teacher had purchased rubber stamps with his own money that included “an inappropriate image of Josef Stalin with an insensitive phrase, as well as other stamps with Fidel Castro, Kim Jung Un and others.”
These were purchased before the pandemic and there use “was likely initially limited due to Distance Learning,” but the teacher was using the stamps “to mark student work as complete” during at least the 13 days of this school year, Evans alleged.
4. Gipe, Who Called Himself ‘As Far Left as You Can Go,’ Encouraged Students to Attend ‘Potential Protests’ That Became Unsafe, Which Was ‘Irresponsible,’ the District Says
The teacher encouraged students “to attend civic related activities for extra credit,” Evans wrote. Some of the calendars/events the teacher shared “involved potential protests and other activities that, at times, became unsafe,” Evans wrote.
He wrote that “there are no specific events right now to prove that, but based on events in the past few years, it is possible. The lack of involvement of parents in that kind of sharing was both unprofessional and irresponsible.”
“I am as far left as you can go,” Gipe admitted in the sting video. “I’ve gone down those deep dark rabbit holes of where like the idea of adventurism and just being like, ‘why aren’t people just like taking up arms… against the state?'”
He added, “It’s slow going because it takes massive amounts of organization.” He said that, when it comes to students, “a lot of senior parents at this point have backed off.”
When pressed on how to make students revolutionaries, he advocated an approach to “utilize their propaganda,” referring to TikTok and Instagram.
“These are all great tools…” Gipe said. He said he’s met people who thought he was off the wall but then later became Marxists.
5. Some Students Have Expressed Support for Gipe, Who Posted Students’ Ideologies on the Wall With Their Photos, But Others Are Upset
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The district noted that a number of students and former students have expressed support for Gipe on social media.
Other students “have shared discomfort about his shared politics,” Evans wrote. Concerned parents showed up at a recent school board meeting.
“I’m all for freedom of speech,” Paizly Gomez, a parent, told KCRA 3 News. “I’m not going to deny that, but, when you are a teacher, your job is academics. You are not here for morals, values, political views — anything like that is not welcome in the school unless it’s a private school.”
Gipe said students had to take an ideology quiz, and he put their pictures on the wall in a political spectrum. “Every year, they (students) get further and further left,” he said.
He said he identifies some ideologies as extremes.
Gipe said in the video that he was going to China in April.
Evans noted that it’s not uncommon for history and social studies teachers to teach material that can be controversial. But it should be “presented in a balanced manner that does not promote any particular viewpoint.”
This teacher “crossed that line and violated that trust,” Evans wrote.
The teacher had 25 previous visits by site administrators in classroom walk throughs in 2018, 2019, and 2020. It was believed that the teacher had learning objectives including, “I will know the 4 ideals presented in the Declaration of Independence, and apply them to current events,” Evans wrote.
The current principal is new to the school and is addressing the effects of the pandemic while dealing with 100 plus staff members, Evans said. Some of the materials on the wall were added in May 2021. “To make sure this does not happen again, observing the walls and identifying what is on the walls of a classroom will be readdressed in a future training for administrators, Evans wrote.
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