After an incident between two schoolchildren culminated in Edmond City Attorney Madeline Sawyer allegedly making “threats” to a middle school student at a basketball game in November, Edmond Public Schools reportedly banned her from attending certain EPS events. No criminal charges were filed in the incident, despite one parent’s desire to see Sawyer “fired and disbarred.”
According to an Edmond Police Department report, the confrontation “may have started because of politics” and insults levied at Sawyer’s daughter. The incident was reported to EPD on Jan. 28, more than two months after it occurred during an evening of basketball games at Sequoyah Middle School on Nov. 14.
While all parties acknowledged to EPD that Sawyer confronted the son of Cody Bruton, what exactly was said at the game — and during prior conversations between the adults’ children — remains unclear. Cameras that captured the Nov. 14 interaction did not record audio, leaving police and prosecutors to review differing claims in a child-said, adult-said situation.
Sawyer told police that Bruton’s son called her and her daughter “dumb bitches” because they did not vote for now-President Donald Trump. Bruton acknowledges that his son wore a Donald Trump shirt to school, and Bruton’s son told EPD that he and his friends “probably said something about people who didn’t like Trump were dumb,” but he also claimed to have never spoken to Sawyer’s daughter directly.
Bruton and his son allege that, at the Nov. 14 game, Sawyer approached the middle school boy and threatened to “end your fucking life” if he insulted Sawyer or her daughter again. Sawyer told EPD she only said that, if the insults continued, “there’s going to be trouble.”
“I asked her what she meant by trouble,” Lt. Mike Chesley wrote in the EPD report (embedded below). “She said she never threatened [the boy] and by trouble she meant with the school, or by possibly taking it further by looking into some sort of bullying statute.”
However, the EPD report notes that Sawyer had not “reported anything to the school” or contacted the boy’s parents about the alleged name calling.
Bruton emailed NonDoc about the situation Jan. 28, the same day he ultimately filed a report with EPD. In an interview, he said no police report was taken after the Nov. 14 incident because a school resource officer said the story boiled down to “her word against a minor’s.”
“He didn’t tell his mom until they got home,” Bruton said. “And of course, then I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ So then she called or emailed everybody up at the school, and then I went up there first thing in the morning and watched the video.”
According to the EPD report, the school resource officer indicated that, since the school was handling discipline, he did not take his own report at the time. Bruton also said he contacted Edmond city officials regarding the incident, but received no reply.
The EPD report contains conflicting statements about the extent of Sawyer’s six-month ban from visiting the school district. EPD officer Brad Griffin took the initial report, stating that Bruton told him Sawyer was banned “from Edmond Public School events.” However, Chesley investigated the situation over the next two weeks and wrote that Sawyer was only “banned from all Sequoyah basketball games for the rest of the season.”
Jeff Bardach, Edmond Public Schools’ executive director of communications, said “whether or not a parent has been banned” from school functions is not public information. He offered no other comment on the matter.
After NonDoc emailed a City of Edmond spokesman about the incident, he replied that city officials had no comment on the incident.
At the conclusion of a Feb. 24 Edmond City Council meeting, Sawyer declined to stop and answer questions about her confrontation with a student that left her banned from EPS events.
“I have nothing at all to say,” Sawyer ultimately stated.
‘Insufficient evidence and a lack of prosecutable merit’
Edmond police ultimately contacted Oklahoma County Assistant District Attorney Robert Gray about the incident, according to the report. Chesley wrote that Sawyer’s position as city attorney represented a potential conflict of interest if EPD presented the case to her office for review.
Executive session review?
Tonight’s Edmond City Council agenda includes an executive session “to discuss the employment of the city attorney,” as well as an item for “consideration of action regarding employment of the city attorney.” Sawyer’s appointment became effective January 2024, so the review’s timing appears to align with standard city practices, although the Nov. 14 incident could be discussed.
“[Gray] said that there was insufficient evidence and a lack of prosecutable merit to this case,” Chesley wrote.
Although Bruton told EPD he wanted to see Sawyer “fired and disbarred,” according to the report, it is unlikely the incident would rise to a level justifying disbarment, especially in the absence of criminal charges.
While Edmond Public Schools Board of Education President Marcus Jones declined to discuss the specific reprimand of Sawyer, he broadly discussed the political dynamics that spurred the situation.
“Elections, especially presidential elections, happen so rarely that they are a big deal,” Jones said. “If you want civic engagement, you have to engage the kids in discussions and tell them how this works. (…) It would be a disservice if the school district wasn’t doing that.”
Read the EPD report on the alleged confrontation
