Palm Beach County schoolteacher arrested three times in a week, brought butcher knife to rally

South Florida Sun Sentinel | By Shira Moolten | November 28, 2023

A Palm Beach County public schoolteacher was arrested three times in the past week, beginning with an incident at a pro-Palestinian rally where police say he walked into traffic while armed with an Arabian butcher knife and ending in jail after a woman said he sent her death threats.

Hawazin Wright, 43, is now facing two felony charges and a misdemeanor charge, court records show. They include resisting arrest, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of meth and aggravated assault. He has also been placed under a risk protection order and has a history of mental illness and psychiatric hospitalizations.

The Palm Beach Gardens resident has worked as a middle school English teacher at Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Boynton Beach since 2017, according to school records, though his current employment status is unclear.

Wright was first arrested on Nov. 19 in the middle of a pro-Palestinian rally in downtown West Palm Beach, according to a probable cause affidavit. He walked into the westbound lanes of Okeechobee Boulevard, impeding traffic, where he was screaming and waving his arms at the protesters, who yelled back in support.

He was taken to the Palm Beach County Jail and charged with carrying a concealed weapon and resisting an officer without violence. He was released two hours later, jail records show.

On Nov. 22, three days after the arrest, a judge granted a temporary risk protection order requiring that Wright surrender all firearms because he “poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself/herself or others in the near future.”

Two days after that, about 4 a.m. Friday, Wright was arrested again, this time on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach.

A witness told police officers that he saw Wright looking into cars and pacing back and forth, according to the affidavit. Wright was wearing a three-piece suit, black rain boots, and a blue baseball cap.

The witness watched as Wright approached a woman sitting on a bench. She seemed drunk and uncomfortable, so the witness went over and asked if she was OK. She got up and left.

Wright yelled at the witness and tried to follow the woman, and the witness stepped in again, telling him, “I guess I need to follow her home to make sure she gets there safe.” Wright then approached him, shouting slurs and threats.

A security guard at Oshea’s Pub walked up to Wright to try to stop the situation from escalating, at which point Wright took out a 12-inch baton, “extending it in a threatening manner,” according to the affidavit. The security guard told police that Wright was wearing a ski mask.

Another witness then tackled Wright. He and other patrons held him on the ground until police arrived, but at one point, while the second witness was loosening his grip, Wright punched him.

Officers arrested Wright, who said while in custody that he was accosted by a mob for being a “gay white Muslim American male who is a Trump supporter,” according to the affidavit.

He was charged with aggravated assault and possession of meth after police searched him and found a baggie of it, according to the affidavit. He was released from jail the next day.

On Sunday, Wright was arrested a third time, after a woman he had briefly dated told detectives that she was so afraid of him that she left the county over the weekend.

The two met online and went on three dates, according to the affidavit, when the woman decided she didn’t want to continue. Wright proceeded to text her nonstop with threatening messages, saying she would be a “dead woman walking” if she let his calls go to voicemail. The management at her building told her that Wright had come to her home twice looking for her.

Police arrested Wright on charges of written threats to kill and obscene or harassing phone communications. As of Tuesday afternoon, he remained in the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center, records show.

It is unclear whether Wright was still working as an English teacher during the week of arrests or what disciplinary action he might face. Spokespeople for the school referred questions about his employment status to the public records department, which did not respond Tuesday.

Wright has a history of mental illness and psychiatric hospitalizations, according to the petition for the risk protection order.  Almost a year ago, in 2022, his wife told police officers that he threatened to kill her and her family, that he had a gun, and that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

A judge granted a risk protection order at the time, which expired on Tuesday. Wright is also under a domestic violence injunction to protect his wife and their minor child.

Wright will appear in Palm Beach County court for a final hearing about the new risk protection order on Dec. 4.