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BREAKING NEWS. WE START WITH THE FEDERAL INVESTIGATION NOW UNDERWAY INTO DES MOINES PUBLIC SCHOOLS. ����vlog PEPPER PURPURA IS LIVE FOR US THIS EVENING AT CENTRAL CAMPUS PEPPER. THE DISTRICT SAYS THEY JUST LEARNED ABOUT THIS A COUPLE OF HOURS AGO. THAT’S CORRECT BEN. THEY DID. SO THEY LEARNED ABOUT IT THROUGH A LETTER FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. THEY SAY THEY RECEIVED THAT THIS AFTERNOON. THAT’S JUST A FEW HOURS BEFORE A SPECIAL SESSION THAT’S SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN HERE AT CENTRAL CAMPUS FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT TO CONSIDER WHETHER THE SUPERINTENDENT NEEDS TO EITHER RESIGN OR BE REMOVED. NOW, WE’RE TOLD THAT LETTER SAYS THAT THE INVESTIGATION IS FOCUSING ON THE DISTRICT’S HIRING PRACTICES. THAT’S IN RESPONSE TO INFORMATION THAT IT HAS AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN THAT INCLUDES QUOTAS. THE DEPARTMENT IS CONCERNED THAT COULD VIOLATE FEDERAL TITLE SEVEN LAWS THAT BARRED DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES. THE LETTER CITES DISTRICT PLANS LAUNCHED IN 2021 TO FOCUS ON INCREASING THE NUMBER OF TEACHERS OF COLOR IN THE DISTRICT THROUGH RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION. A PAGE ON THE DISTRICT’S WEBSITE DISCUSSES HOSTING AN ANTI-RACIST TOWN HALL WITH THE COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS SEEKING OUT BLACK EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCES AT THE DISTRICT. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS OF IOWA RESPONDED TO THE INVESTIGATION ANNOUNCEMENT BY SAYING IN PART, WE MAINTAIN THAT ALL DISTRICTS MUST COMPLY WITH STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS WHILE PRIORITIZING THE NEEDS OF THEIR STUDENTS, STAFF, AND FAMILIES. WE’RE CONFIDENT DMPS LEADERSHIP AND ITS BOARD WILL RESPOND APPROPRIATELY THROUGH THIS INVESTIGATION. NOW, WE DON’T KNOW IF THIS INVESTIGATION IS RELATED TO ROBERT’S ARREST THAT HAPPENED A FEW DAYS AGO, BUT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE PLANNING TO ASK AT THAT MEETING HERE TONIGHT IN DES MOINES. AURORA ����vlog EIGHT NEWS. IOWA’S NEWS LEADER. OKAY, SO HOPEFULLY WE’LL HAVE MORE ANSWERS. PEPPER. THANK YOU. THIS AFTERNOON. DOCTOR ROBERTS SUBMITTED HIS RESIGNATION TO THE DES MOINES PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD THROUGH HIS LAWYER, ROBERTS SAYS HE DID SO OUT OF CONCERN FOR STUDENTS IN THE DISTRICT. THE SCHOOL BOARD WILL MEET TONIGHT AT 730 TO CONSIDER EITHER ACCEPTING HIS RESIGNATION OR FIRING HIM. ����vlog HAS TEAM COVERAGE AS WE CONTINUE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DOCTOR ROBERTS ARREST AND WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE DISTRICT. WE’RE GOING TO START WITH ����vlog BEAU BOWMAN WITH THE FIRST PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM DOCTOR ROBERTS LEGAL TEAM SINCE HE WAS ARRESTED ON FRIDAY. BO. YEAH. BEN, LIKE YOU SAID, THIS WAS OUR FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR FROM ROBERTS SIDE OF THIS EVER DEVELOPING STORY. AND WHILE HIS ATTORNEYS WEREN’T ABLE TO PROVIDE MANY ANSWERS, ASIDE FROM OUR QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS BIOGRAPHY, THEY DID HINT AT WHAT THEIR STRATEGY IS GOING TO BE MOVING FORWARD IN COURT. WHAT WE DID YESTERDAY THAT EVERYONE IS CURIOUS ABOUT. WE FILED A MOTION TO STAY DOCTOR IAN ROBERTS, ATTORNEY ALFREDO PARRISH, HELD A NEWS CONFERENCE TUESDAY AFTERNOON DETAILING THEIR PLAN OF ATTACK IN COURT. HE SAYS THEY FILED A MOTION TO STAY A COURT FILING TO TEMPORARILY HALT OR POSTPONE LEGAL ACTION. A COURT ORDER OR THE ENFORCEMENT OF A JUDGE IN THIS CASE, IF THE MOTION IS SUCCESSFUL, IT COULD KEEP ROBERTS FROM BEING DEPORTED. PARRISH SAYS THEY CAN’T DISCLOSE WHAT WAS WRITTEN IN THE MOTION. THESE FILES ARE DIFFICULT TO ACCESS. THEY ARE DIFFICULT TO GET, AND WE HAVE DONE OUR BEST TO TRY TO GET AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO GIVE THE PUBLIC SOME INSIGHT INTO WHAT’S GOING ON, PARRISH SAYS. THEY’RE ALSO IN THE PROCESS OF FILING A MOTION TO REOPEN ROBERT’S IMMIGRATION CASE. HE SAYS AFTER THE 2024 FINAL ORDER OF REMOVAL, ROBERTS LATER RECEIVED A LETTER FROM HIS FORMER ATTORNEY TELLING HIM THAT HIS CASE HAD BEEN CLOSED AND HAD COME TO A SUCCESSFUL RESOLUTION. HIS PRIOR ATTORNEY WAS IN TEXAS AT THE END OF THIS CONFERENCE. I’M GOING TO SHARE A LETTER THAT WAS RECEIVED FROM THE PRIOR ATTORNEY TELLING HIS CASE HAD BEEN CLOSED SUCCESSFULLY, AND HE WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT IT HAD BEEN. THE MOTION TO REOPEN COULD BE CRUCIAL. IN A JUDGE’S RULING ON THE MOTION TO STAY, ACCORDING TO THE WEBSITE FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, MOTIONS TO STAY ARE ONLY ENTERTAINED UNDER VERY SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES. ONE OF THEM, A SUCCESSFUL MOTION TO REOPEN. WE WILL BE FILING A MOTION TO REOPEN THE CASE, AND ONCE WE DO THAT, WE’LL BE READY TO TO ROCK. ����vlog DID REACH OUT TO ROBERT’S FORMER ATTORNEY BASED IN TEXAS. THEY SAY, QUOTE, I CAN ADVISE THAT O