Nebraska school revamps security after uninvited preacher evangelizes in cafeteria
Cringe-y influencer Ryan Foley began yelling about Jesus in a school lunchroom, exposing a security flaw in the Omaha school district
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Here’s some free advice for Christians: If you ever get the opportunity to visit a public school, hijacking the lunch room in order to win some converts is a horrible idea. (And not just because everyone is rightfully jittery these days about strangers doing anything disruptive during the school day.)
On Monday, 20-year-old Ryan Foley walked into Millard South High School in Omaha, Nebraska, ostensibly to pick up some transcripts. That’s not an unusual request, so it’s not surprising that the school allowed the former student into the building.
Before he left, though, he stopped by the cafeteria, where students were eating lunch, and yelled at them about Jesus. (In Nebraska. As if those kids haven’t been inundated with that message all their lives.)
Foley later bragged about it on TikTok, urging viewers to “be bold and courageous about the Word of God.”
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Here’s another video from a different person showing more WTF reactions from students:
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It’s unclear where Foley got the video of him preaching, though I wouldn’t put it past him to have lifted it from a student who tried to capture his lunacy. (Also weird? He added the hashtags #greenscreenvideo and #highschoolmusical to his video, perhaps hoping to get the attention of anyone searching for those terms.)
I’ll admit I laughed when he yelled about how, when he was a student at that high school, “I was what you call ‘popular,’” truly living up to his last name. The key word there is “was.” Based on their body language, the students in that lunch room had no interest in being around him.
The only uplifting aspect of that video is how the students began laughing the moment Foley mentioned Jesus. He went from being some crazy adult to just being a run-of-the-mill crazy Christian adult. He immediately became a guy who’s easy to ignore because he only speaks in monologues.
In a follow-up video, Foley said this wasn’t a planned stunt and that he just felt called to “do something” after he picked up his transcripts because “sin runs rampant… through high schools.”
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He also said in that video that he had no regrets and “would do it again.”
This wasn’t just a harmless stunt, though.
At a time when mass shootings are commonplace, and given that this incident occurred on the same day that six people were fatally shot in a Tennessee school, this was downright dangerous. After all, what if getting transcripts was just a ruse to get inside the building?
The principal of the school, Heide Weaver, sent a (very tactful) message to parents on Monday letting them know what happened (since students were undoubtedly texting them about it already):
Hello Millard South Families,
I am writing to let you know about an incident that occurred at school today. During the lunch hour, a former student came into the school for a transcript. On his way out of school, he went to the lunchroom and made some impromptu announcements about religion. A school administrator immediately intervened and escorted him out of the building.
This situation disrupted the day and we simply want to keep you informed.
Thank you,
Mrs. Weaver, Principal
“Impromptu announcements about religion” is quite the euphemism for preaching from a Christian evangelist who thinks underage kids make for good targets.
By Tuesday, though, the district announced that it was reviewing all its security protocols:
We are reviewing our procedures for visitors who need to access the school beyond the front office. Going forward, some business matters will be transferred to the front office or conducted electronically or by mail. I understand the concern, especially in light of what happened in Tennessee yesterday.
…
Additionally, we always follow through with all legal avenues for anyone who breaches security. This includes being barred from the school premises and working with local law enforcement.
Foley wasn’t arrested on Monday. It’s unclear if he’ll face any consequences for what he did or if any future district policies will ban him from ever visiting his former school again.
That said, Foley has a habit of screaming about his religion in places where he’s not wanted. Earlier this year, he made some news when another video of him evangelizing at a gym went viral. He annoyed everyone there, too.
He also has admitted to watch transgender and gay porn and (in now-deleted videos) “darker and darker” stuff that eventually led to him acting on his homosexual desires. I don’t actually give a damn about his viewing habits or his sex life, but in the event that he’s ever speaking at a church in the future, I’m sure he’d appreciate an audience member standing up and disrupting his sermon with those interesting bits of information.
The bottom line is that nothing he did on Monday will turn people into Christians; it’ll only serve to make Christianity, at least in the eyes of those students, the de facto religion for weirdos who like to run into lunchrooms to scream at children about God.
At least something good came out of it, though. The district is on the verge of making sure people like him never again have easy access to students.
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...and 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 pelted him with mashed potatoes? No flying gobs of gravy? No airborne applesauce? 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘭 of catapulted corn? A more perfect opportunity for a good 'ol food fight I have never seen, and you wasted it! For shame, kids. For absolute 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦.
The only consequences Foley is likely to face is the massive outpouring of online ridicule, since it wasn't necessarily illegal. It was just a rude asshole spewing Jesus fueled douchebaggery. I hope the school district bans him from the property. At the very least, their security procedures should require an escort for any visitors.
The students laughing was good.