Wyoming man arrested for causing thousand-person stampede at high school debate tournament
A Wyoming man sparked chaos at a national high school debate tournament after storming the stage and triggering a thousand-person stampede that left officials scrambling and terrified attendees fleeing in all directions.
Jayden Roccaforte, 22, a four-time national champion in speech and debate, was arrested on Thursday, June 19 at the 2025 National Speech and Debate Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.
A viral video shows Roccaforte swaying on stage with a backpack, making unsettling gestures and launching into a bizarre 'knock knock' joke that quickly spiraled into panic.
'You wanna hear a joke?' he asked the crowd, before shouting 'Knock knock!' and crouching over his bag as if to pull something out - prompting someone to ask, 'Run away?' Moments later, thousands began to flee the venue.
According to Des Moines police, Roccaforte now faces a charge of disorderly conduct and two counts of drug possession.
On Friday, June 20, district spokesperson Mary Quast told Cowboy State Daily that Roccaforte was neither an employee nor a volunteer and had no affiliation with the school's speech and debate program.
But conflicting accounts and screenshots tell a different story.
Screenshots reviewed by Cowboy State Daily show that Roccaforte was added to a group chat with East High students and coaches on June 11, and remained in the chat until being removed after Thursday's incident.
An August 2024 blog post by One Clap Speech and Debate had previously described Roccaforte as someone who coached East High students after graduating.
Now a student at West Kentucky University, Roccaforte reportedly traveled to the tournament independently - but he was seen wearing an orange 'attendee' ribbon, which according to tournament rules, means a school approved his presence on-site.
Both a parent and a student told Cowboy State Daily that Roccaforte was with the East High team throughout the day on Thursday - traveling in a school district vehicle and even joining students and coaches for meals.
'He was kind of just hanging out with people,' one student said. 'There wasn't really anyone to coach at that point; we were just going there to (perform).'
Later that night, at 9:45 p.m., East High head coach Marcus Viney sent an email to tournament attendees confirming that Roccaforte was a former student of the program but had traveled to the event 'independently… with the intent to celebrate an important team award.'
On Friday afternoon, assistant coach Ashley Schulz sent a group message to students warning them not to speak with reporters: 'If anyone gets contacted by the news, we are not allowed to speak with them at all. The district will comment. NOT us.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
30 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump says Iran and Israel agree to a ceasefire
June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that a ceasefire has been agreed between Israel and Iran. "It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE... for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED!," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump administration plans to rescind rule blocking logging on national forest lands
The Trump administration plans to rescind a nearly quarter-century-old rule that blocked logging on national forest lands, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Monday. The so-called roadless rule adopted in the last days of Bill Clinton 's presidency in 2001 long has chafed Republican lawmakers, especially in the West where national forests sprawl across vast, mountainous terrain and the logging industry has waned. The roadless rule impeded road construction and 'responsible timber production' that would have helped reduce the risk of major wildfires, Rollins said at the annual meeting of the Western Governors Association. 'This move opens a new era of consistency and sustainability for our nation's forests," Rollins said. The rule affected 30% of national forest lands nationwide, or about 59 million acres (24 million hectares), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency over the Forest Service. State roadless-area rules in Idaho and Colorado supersede the boundaries of the 2001 roadless rule, according to the USDA, meaning not all national forest land would be affected by a recission. The announcement came amid talk of selling off federal lands, an idea that received a mixed reception from governors at the same meeting. In Alaska, home to the country's largest national forest, the Tongass, the roadless rule has long been a focus of litigation, with state political leaders supporting an exemption to the rule that they argue impedes economic opportunities. During the latter part of President Donald Trump's first term, the federal government lifted restrictions on logging and road-building in the Tongass, something the Biden administration later reversed. Trump in January called for reverting to the policy from his first term as part of an Alaska-specific executive order aimed at boosting oil and gas development, mining and logging in the state. The Tongass is a temperate rainforest of glaciers and rugged coastal islands. It provides habitat to wildlife such as bears, wolves, salmon and bald eagles. Environmental groups, who want to keep restrictions on logging and road-building in place for the Tongass, criticized the possibility of rolling back the protections. 'Any attempt to revoke it is an attack on the air and water we breathe and drink, abundant recreational opportunities which millions of people enjoy each year, havens for wildlife and critical buffers for communities threatened by increasingly severe wildfire seasons,' Josh Hicks, conservation campaigns director at The Wilderness Society, said in a statement of USDA's plans. ___ Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, contributed to this report.
The Independent
32 minutes ago
- The Independent
Man gets life in prison for triple killings at Phoenix apartment that was set on fire
An Arizona man was sentenced Monday to life prison in the killings of three people at a Phoenix apartment that was set on fire. Chase Scott Christman, 31, of Mesa had previously pleaded guilty to murder and robbery charges stemming from the July 2024 deaths of Merissa Honeycutt, 27; Anthony Frederickson Ceccarelli, 25; and Samuel Lott, 37. Prosecutors say Christman had gone to the apartment in Phoenix's Ahwatukee area to get drugs and steal money. R.J. Parker, an attorney representing Christman, didn't return a phone call from The Associated Press. The bodies were found by firefighters who responded to a blaze at the apartment. Authorities said the bodies and the apartment weren't significantly damaged in the fire. Neighbors told investigators they heard screaming coming from the apartment. Police say one victim was fatally stabbed, another was shot to death and another was both shot and stabbed. Authorities say the victims likely fought back during the violent attacks and that Christman had cuts on his hands when he was arrested. Prosecutors say blood found in the apartment was matched with Christman's DNA.
