A Texas school administrator has been suspended after screenshots surfaced of a threatening, expletive-filled private Twitter message to Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti.
As KHOU-TV (Houston) reports, Butch Groves was, until recently anyway, an administrator at the private Oakridge School in Arlington. However, his future employment there may be in jeopardy thanks to a poorly-thought-out Twitter post.
Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who accepted a hush money payment from Donald Trump’s attorney and has written a damning tell-all book about the president, says he received a private message on Twitter from Groves. Avenatti then took a screenshot of the message and posted it publicly on Twitter.
“Meet Butch Groves, the head of upper school at Oak Ridge Arlington. I have never met him before or communicated with him, but this was his message to me earlier tonight.”
In the message, Groves purportedly said to Avenatti, “You are an [expletive], you lying piece of [expletive].”
Several things bear noting. First, it’s impossible to verify Avenatti’s claim, as his own Twitter account has now been set to “Private,” meaning that only users whom Avenatti approves can see his tweets. Second, it’s not clear when the tweet was sent. Third, it’s not clear what prompted Groves’ alleged ire; Avenatti had announced before he received the tweet that he was representing one of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers. Avenatti thinks that was the reason, according to a phone call with a KHOU reporter.
“I have no idea why he would send such a vile message to me out of the blue unless he was upset that I’m representing a sexual assault victim.”
Michael Avenatti Locks Twitter After 4Chan User Claims Girlfriend Pranked Him, Posed As Third Kavanaugh Accuser https://t.co/rn7bnrsDnh pic.twitter.com/dsSvAIcs1R
— KCAL News (@kcalnews) September 26, 2018
Now the fallout, for Groves anyway, has begun.
In a statement, the private school, which is not affiliated with any religious denomination, said that Groves has been suspended “indefinitely.”
“Oakridge employees are expected to maintain the respect, dignity and professionalism that is consistent with our mission. Mr. Groves’ conduct was unacceptable and inconsistent with these policies and standards.”
Groves, for his part, said in a tweet that he’s been fired, although whether or not his claim is true remains unclear.
Parents say that Groves’ actions and attitudes make the school look bad. And parent Michelle Rector says that she’s familiar with Groves, so much so that his attitude was one of the reasons she pulled her son out of Oakridge.
“I wasn’t surprised. That’s just his demeanor,” said Michelle Rector. “To me, he’s a grouch, he’s mean. He likes to pick on people.”
