SANTA MONICA—An 18-year-old student was charged with several misdemeanors on April 8 for an incident involving a Santa Monica High Schoolteacher.

Blair Moore of Los Angeles was arrested on April 4 by Santa Monica Police after a dispute with a teacher, according to Sergeant Jay Moroso of the SMPD. Moore was arraigned on April 8 and charged with two counts of threatening a public school official, one count of possession of less than 28.5 grams of marijuana on school grounds, one count of possession of a box cutter on school grounds and one count of force or violence against a school employee in retaliation for an act performed in the course of their duties. All the counts were filed as misdemeanors.

Moore pleaded not guilty to all charges, and he was released on his own recognizance, while also being barred from harassing, striking, threatening or assaulting any of the victims named in the case, according to Sgt. Moroso.

The suspect is due back in court on April 22. The incident in question involved a teacher at Santa Monica High School named Mark Black, who was placed on administrative leave following the dispute, according to a letter from Sandra Lyon, Superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

KTLA managed to acquire the video captured by a student which showed Black and Moore, whose faced was blurred, as they struggled and fought each other, with Black attempting to force Moore to the ground. Black eventually tookMoore down as other students in the video darted away from the fight.

In the letter to parents following the incident, Superintendent Lyon called the partial video “utterly alarming” as she promised parents that the situation was being handled as appropriately as it could.

“I am grateful that there is no reported serious physical harm to students or teachers, but that neither dismisses the severity of this situation nor my commitment to gather all the facts and make sure the proper actions are taken,” said Superintendent Lyon in the letter. The response to the letter and Black’s leave, though, were not taken lightly.

Groundswell support was apparent once a Facebook page, was created on April 4 that expressed its support of Black and its desire to see him reinstated to his position as Santa Monica High’s science teacher and wrestling coach.

“I just hope enough people help set the record straight for the character assassination the school seems to have stated by commenting anything other than an investigation is taking place,” said a comment from the page.

Hundreds of the comments on the page, expressed their support of Black, a coach who seemingly made an impact on the community, and condemnation of Superintendent Lyon for an action that supporters describe as knee-jerk. The page has received over 20,000 likes as of the printing of this story.

In addition to the page, supporters have also created two separate petitions involving Black and his situation. One was created to see Black reinstated, citing his older age of 60 years, his teaching career of 30 years and his training and teaching of self-defense and wrestling of 45 years as qualifiers. Around 8,500 signatures have been submitted to the cause.

The petition also described the incident in question, which began when “the student,” presumably Moore, was caught by Black as he attempted to sell marijuana in the classroom. When the student resisted, he attacked Black, which, according to the petition statement, was witnessed by several students who said that Black “had little choice.”

The second petition demanded an apology from Superintendent Lyon for “making a biased, inflammatory response to [Mark Black’s] heroic classroom actions.” Though the amount of signatures have only reached around 1,300, Superintendent Lyon did send a second letter to parents on April 7 that sought to clarify some of her comments from the previous letter while also promising “due process” through an independent investigation that would be done before the school’s Spring Break.

“I regret that my statements issued on Friday have been misconstrued by many people reacting through social media and the press,” she said in the letter. “In no way was our action to place the teacher on paid leave a determination of wrongful conduct or a decision to suspend or discipline him.”

The Los Angeles Times reported that Darrell Goode, President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) Santa Monica-Venice branch, stated that he hoped a fair investigation would take place, citing an incident from 2011 in which police investigated claims made by a black student involving a noose being placed around a brown practice dummy and the student being chained to a locker by wrestling teammates. At the time, the accusations made were not reported by school and wrestling officials to the mother of the student until six weeks after they took place. A settlement was reached; sensitivity training was given; and the students involved were suspended.

Canyon News has reached out to Black, but calls were not returned.