11-04-2025
Indictment returned against Montclair teacher accused of threatening principal
A grand jury returned an indictment against Montclair school teacher Amir Doctry last week over allegations he'd threatened the principal of Northeast Elementary through a series of concerning social media posts in faces two third-degree charges of making terroristic threats in Essex County's superior court, according to Trial Court Administrator Sabrina Habibula. However, the indictment itself remains sealed.
Doctry's alleged rant against Northeast School Principal Joseph Putrino, which said "Montclair school shooting kills Dr. Joe [...] Racism Joe is dead," was just one in a series of alarming statements against the administrator, according to a detention order signed by Judge Lori Grifa in February.
The alleged threats began after Putrino called police on Jan. 9 to have Doctry removed from Northeast Elementary after the teacher visited the grounds in violation of an existing mandate that temporarily revoked his access to district schools and computer systems due to "erratic behavior," according to documents filed in his criminal lashed out at the principal in a text message warning he would take over as "boss" and have Putrino fired, according to police statements. Following his physical removal from the school, the threats escalated, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office has previously alleged.
Putrino reported the ongoing harassment to law-enforcement after he saw a YouTube channel allegedly controlled by Doctry that included an image of someone holding a firearm, which the user had labeled: "All parents in Montclair."
The threats continued to escalate when Putrino received yet another text from Doctry, which contained Judaic emojis alongside invectives such as "dumbass," according to a copy of the initial complaint.
Then came the warning that Putrino would be killed during a school shooting on the same YouTube channel allegedly run by Doctry. The post vowed that "racist Joe [...] dies tonight," according to prior statements from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.
That account has since been removed from the social media site, reported the online news outlet Montclair Local.
Doctry is scheduled to be arraigned in state superior court on May 2.
This article originally appeared on Montclair NJ teacher indicted in threat against principal
