September 29, 2025 • 11 mins
Not super: The head of the largest school district in Iowa is running from ICE with a gun, knife and deportation orders in a school vehicle! NewsRadio 1040 WHO's Jeff Angelo provides us the details.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Scott Vordiez. The biggest school district in Iowa, that's des
Moines Public School and the hiring of someone who's not
only in the country illegally, but this man had an
apparently a warrant to where he was supposed to be
(00:22):
removed from the country. He has previous weapons possessions charges.
He was found with a gun as he was evading ice.
And you've got people in Des Moines saying we need
to have radical empathy for this man. The police don't
have the full story, you know, who does Our friend
(00:43):
Jeff Angelo, morning show host on our sister station right
down the road in Des Moines News Radio ten forty
Who Jeff joins us now. Jeff, good morning, and thank
you very much for taking.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
The time pleasure to talk with you this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
All right, so tell me about that guy. Do we
have any idea how Ian Roberts who was in the country.
I guess he had a student visa several years ago
and then things started going left. How what do we
know about his story and how he got hired to
be the superintendent of des Moines Public Schools?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Well, that's going to be the big question this morning.
The school district is claiming that they did a background check,
they did a criminal background check on him, that it
never came up that he was in the country illegally.
He filled out all the appropriate paperwork, claimed under oath
(01:39):
penalty of perjury that he was an American citizen, that
he was eligible to work in the country.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
And he was not.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
He was also licensed to be a superintendent by the
State of Iowa the Department of Education. How does that happen?
License to be a superintendent in twenty twenty three. He
was then hired as superintendent in twenty twenty three by
the Des Moines Public Schools. Final order of removal entered
(02:10):
in a court in twenty twenty four, which he appealed.
Scott so he knew, he knew, he was in the
country illegally, not authorized to work, and now.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
He's being held in a Woodbury County jail while.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
People across Iowa put test and say he's a really
good guy. Just let him out and let's forget the
whole thing.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Right. Well, we'll get to the where law enforcement finally
caught up with him here in a moment. But we're
not talking about someone who was hired to do like
a part time job, you know, doing this or that
around the school. This was the superintendent of schools, and
and what it sounds like the school board is saying, well,
we had nat we had a contract with a third
(02:54):
party group and they're the ones who you know found out. No, no,
this is the superintendent of schools. You do your own
due diligence on this stuff, don't you think.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I think, Scott, I think you do your due diligence
unless you're one of those folks that you know. The
Des Moines Public School District is located in probably one
of the more liberal areas, and it is the people
I'm familiar with on the school board. They are liberal,
and you know that for the past few years, the
attitude a lot of folks on the left is.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
That we don't like immigration laws, so.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
We're going to ignore them. So you don't have due diligence,
You just have I guess I would call it me diligence, right.
You you didn't really look too hard at the guy's background.
You were just hiring. You thought he was a great hire,
and you talked him up, and you ignored the fact
that maybe there were some red flags around. That's what
(03:54):
I think was going on. I don't think there was
much due diligence. I think that the the Moines School
just led by people. And we've seen a lot of
leaders throughout our government these past few years say we
don't like the immigration laws, therefore they should not be enforced,
and we hurt over and over that Ian Roberts is
such a good guy and we really shouldn't judge him
(04:16):
by this mistake, you know, simple mistakes like you and
I make Scott, like having a loaded handgun in a
vehicle owned by the school. Come on, he's a good guy,
so the rule of law doesn't apply and we all
should just forget about it and go about our lives,
and he should be able to lead our children in
the future.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Put that on a neon sign. You've got the chair
of the Des Moines Public School Board, Jackie Norris is
her name. Previously, she was chief of staff for Michelle
Obama when she was First Lady of America. So it
doesn't get more democrat than that, it doesn't get more
liberal than that. And she's the one saying, hey, weapons charges,
(04:57):
a legal possession of a gun, hunting from law enforcement. Hey,
this is something we're willing to look past. Really, So
we get to the point here as we're talking with
news radio ten forty w jo's Jeff Angelo for just
another a couple of minutes, where now law enforcement says,
all right, we got to go find this guy. I
wonder did they know he was the superintendent of schools.
(05:20):
I don't know if that really comes up on a
check when it's like, all right, time to go find
this person. And then that got dicey, didn't it it?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Sure did. He actually fled the vehicle and went into
the woods. So he's in a des Moines public school
vehicle with a loaded handgun, a large amount of cash apparently,
and a hunting knife. Don't know why he's possessing all
these things in a school vehicle, obviously in violation of
school policy. And when they attempted to pull him over,
(05:53):
he fled into the woods. And I was told by
my law enforcement friends that if they hadn't found him
fairly quickly, they were going to call out the canines.
And so you almost have this amazing story of the
des Moines school superintendent running through the woods being chased
by police dogs. So that didn't happen, but this story
(06:13):
is crazy enough. Jackie Norris saying, hey guys, it's a
time for all of us to tone down the rhetoric.
We need to practice as doctor Roberts did. Radical empathy
is what she told us to practice here, because again,
we should all still be looking up to Ian Roberts
with some kind of role model. According to the Moines.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
School Board, I'm all in favor of intensive law.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Abiding, that's my word. I think that we need a
rule of law in this country. Whether you're a nice
guy or not, the law needs to apply. Otherwise we
don't have a country. The social fabric disintegrates because our
government won't do its job and apply the law equally,
will just apply the law to people that we don't like.
(07:00):
And that's what we're being told right now by the
school board. Absolutely stunning rhetoric by the Dowayne School Board
over the weekend.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Whether it's the Bud Crawford story here in Omaha or
the superintendent of Schools in Des Moines story there in
your community, Jeff, the law must be applied equally. And
the sad thing is is that this school board chair,
if this superintendent had been wearing a red make America
Great Again hat, she would be calling for his deportation
whether or not he was in the country illegally. So
(07:30):
we don't do the law. We don't do politics equally
in this country. And let's say, Jeff that because radio guys,
especially big important radio guys like yourself, we get asked
to go talk to classrooms full of school kids all
the time. How would you feel if you're going to
give a presentation to the kids in the class about
morality and doing the right thing. And this is the
(07:52):
superintendent of schools there.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
That's exactly it, Scott. I mean, imagine going into a school. Now,
remember that the school board member Jackie Norris is telling
you that he's still a model for everyone to follow. Okay,
so you go in and say, kids, you know, don't
lie and don't break the law, and respect law enforcement.
(08:17):
Don't run for them from them when they want to
pull your car over. Unless, of course, people collectively is
a community like you, then the law really doesn't apply.
So make sure kids that you're well liked, because.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
If you're well liked, then you can get away with stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I mean, how do you bring in somebody like it
from an organization like character counts at this point to
talk about following the law and respect for law enforcement,
not lying, not breaking the law. When your school board
itself is telling the community that the person arrested by
ice is still an example to be followed in the community.
(08:58):
I just black of self awareness by the Des Moines
school board at this point is absolutely, absolutely, just mortifying.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I got an email here from David says, I'm a
college educated guy who is on the verge of shutting
my business down and I have a hard time finding
new employment and this case ticks me off more than anything.
I mean, there are a lot of people that feel
this way, especially since this mindset that's rallying around this
guy is also the same one that was fighting your
(09:28):
secretary of state there in Iowa saying no, no, there's
no illegal voting going on and we don't need to
check the voting roles and all this stuff. It's we
have a massive change underway in this country. And this
is the kind of thing that President Trump said, Hey,
you liked me, We're gonna look for this kind of stuff,
(09:50):
and then he was elected and now he's doing it,
and people are like, I can't believe this man's out
of control. There's a lot the enforcement of the law.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
What a concept. But Scott, this is amazing because we
now still have people part of the governmental apparatus in
this country that still are part of the ideology that
you just articulated, that said, we don't need to be
applying to the law the law when we just don't
(10:20):
like the law and we don't like the people it
applies to, and so we don't really have a rule
of law. We had protesters across the state this weekend,
across Iowa saying free doctor Roberts. He's a great guy.
You're basically protesting against the rule of law. You don't
want to live in a country anymore where the law
is equally applied. You get to ignore the laws you
(10:43):
don't like. You only apply the laws to people that
you don't like, i e. Politically, And that's the country
these protesters want to live in. It in It's important
for citizens everywhere to just simply stand up and say
we are not going to allow this. We need the
laws equally applied, we need the rule of law to
be followed, we need to respect our law enforcement. Let
(11:04):
them do their jobs. Let's do the exact opposite of
the model that Ian Roberts demonstrated. This weekend.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Jeff Aslow just got done with a long shift entertaining
the good people of Des Moines and the surrounding area
and joins us here for an extra few minutes. Jeff,
thank you so much for doing a little overtime for
us here on eleven ten KFAB.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It was absolutely boy Scott.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
We'll talk to you again soon.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Scott Boyes, Mornings nine to eleven, Our News Radio eleven
ten KFAB
Scott Vordiez. The biggest school district in Iowa, that's des
Moines Public School and the hiring of someone who's not
only in the country illegally, but this man had an
apparently a warrant to where he was supposed to be
(00:22):
removed from the country. He has previous weapons possessions charges.
He was found with a gun as he was evading ice.
And you've got people in Des Moines saying we need
to have radical empathy for this man. The police don't
have the full story, you know, who does Our friend
(00:43):
Jeff Angelo, morning show host on our sister station right
down the road in Des Moines News Radio ten forty
Who Jeff joins us now. Jeff, good morning, and thank
you very much for taking.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
The time pleasure to talk with you this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
All right, so tell me about that guy. Do we
have any idea how Ian Roberts who was in the country.
I guess he had a student visa several years ago
and then things started going left. How what do we
know about his story and how he got hired to
be the superintendent of des Moines Public Schools?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Well, that's going to be the big question this morning.
The school district is claiming that they did a background check,
they did a criminal background check on him, that it
never came up that he was in the country illegally.
He filled out all the appropriate paperwork, claimed under oath
(01:39):
penalty of perjury that he was an American citizen, that
he was eligible to work in the country.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
And he was not.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
He was also licensed to be a superintendent by the
State of Iowa the Department of Education. How does that happen?
License to be a superintendent in twenty twenty three. He
was then hired as superintendent in twenty twenty three by
the Des Moines Public Schools. Final order of removal entered
(02:10):
in a court in twenty twenty four, which he appealed.
Scott so he knew, he knew, he was in the
country illegally, not authorized to work, and now.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
He's being held in a Woodbury County jail while.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
People across Iowa put test and say he's a really
good guy. Just let him out and let's forget the
whole thing.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Right. Well, we'll get to the where law enforcement finally
caught up with him here in a moment. But we're
not talking about someone who was hired to do like
a part time job, you know, doing this or that
around the school. This was the superintendent of schools, and
and what it sounds like the school board is saying, well,
we had nat we had a contract with a third
(02:54):
party group and they're the ones who you know found out. No, no,
this is the superintendent of schools. You do your own
due diligence on this stuff, don't you think.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I think, Scott, I think you do your due diligence
unless you're one of those folks that you know. The
Des Moines Public School District is located in probably one
of the more liberal areas, and it is the people
I'm familiar with on the school board. They are liberal,
and you know that for the past few years, the
attitude a lot of folks on the left is.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
That we don't like immigration laws, so.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
We're going to ignore them. So you don't have due diligence,
You just have I guess I would call it me diligence, right.
You you didn't really look too hard at the guy's background.
You were just hiring. You thought he was a great hire,
and you talked him up, and you ignored the fact
that maybe there were some red flags around. That's what
(03:54):
I think was going on. I don't think there was
much due diligence. I think that the the Moines School
just led by people. And we've seen a lot of
leaders throughout our government these past few years say we
don't like the immigration laws, therefore they should not be enforced,
and we hurt over and over that Ian Roberts is
such a good guy and we really shouldn't judge him
(04:16):
by this mistake, you know, simple mistakes like you and
I make Scott, like having a loaded handgun in a
vehicle owned by the school. Come on, he's a good guy,
so the rule of law doesn't apply and we all
should just forget about it and go about our lives,
and he should be able to lead our children in
the future.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Put that on a neon sign. You've got the chair
of the Des Moines Public School Board, Jackie Norris is
her name. Previously, she was chief of staff for Michelle
Obama when she was First Lady of America. So it
doesn't get more democrat than that, it doesn't get more
liberal than that. And she's the one saying, hey, weapons charges,
(04:57):
a legal possession of a gun, hunting from law enforcement. Hey,
this is something we're willing to look past. Really, So
we get to the point here as we're talking with
news radio ten forty w jo's Jeff Angelo for just
another a couple of minutes, where now law enforcement says,
all right, we got to go find this guy. I
wonder did they know he was the superintendent of schools.
(05:20):
I don't know if that really comes up on a
check when it's like, all right, time to go find
this person. And then that got dicey, didn't it it?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Sure did. He actually fled the vehicle and went into
the woods. So he's in a des Moines public school
vehicle with a loaded handgun, a large amount of cash apparently,
and a hunting knife. Don't know why he's possessing all
these things in a school vehicle, obviously in violation of
school policy. And when they attempted to pull him over,
(05:53):
he fled into the woods. And I was told by
my law enforcement friends that if they hadn't found him
fairly quickly, they were going to call out the canines.
And so you almost have this amazing story of the
des Moines school superintendent running through the woods being chased
by police dogs. So that didn't happen, but this story
(06:13):
is crazy enough. Jackie Norris saying, hey guys, it's a
time for all of us to tone down the rhetoric.
We need to practice as doctor Roberts did. Radical empathy
is what she told us to practice here, because again,
we should all still be looking up to Ian Roberts
with some kind of role model. According to the Moines.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
School Board, I'm all in favor of intensive law.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Abiding, that's my word. I think that we need a
rule of law in this country. Whether you're a nice
guy or not, the law needs to apply. Otherwise we
don't have a country. The social fabric disintegrates because our
government won't do its job and apply the law equally,
will just apply the law to people that we don't like.
(07:00):
And that's what we're being told right now by the
school board. Absolutely stunning rhetoric by the Dowayne School Board
over the weekend.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Whether it's the Bud Crawford story here in Omaha or
the superintendent of Schools in Des Moines story there in
your community, Jeff, the law must be applied equally. And
the sad thing is is that this school board chair,
if this superintendent had been wearing a red make America
Great Again hat, she would be calling for his deportation
whether or not he was in the country illegally. So
(07:30):
we don't do the law. We don't do politics equally
in this country. And let's say, Jeff that because radio guys,
especially big important radio guys like yourself, we get asked
to go talk to classrooms full of school kids all
the time. How would you feel if you're going to
give a presentation to the kids in the class about
morality and doing the right thing. And this is the
(07:52):
superintendent of schools there.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
That's exactly it, Scott. I mean, imagine going into a school. Now,
remember that the school board member Jackie Norris is telling
you that he's still a model for everyone to follow. Okay,
so you go in and say, kids, you know, don't
lie and don't break the law, and respect law enforcement.
(08:17):
Don't run for them from them when they want to
pull your car over. Unless, of course, people collectively is
a community like you, then the law really doesn't apply.
So make sure kids that you're well liked, because.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
If you're well liked, then you can get away with stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I mean, how do you bring in somebody like it
from an organization like character counts at this point to
talk about following the law and respect for law enforcement,
not lying, not breaking the law. When your school board
itself is telling the community that the person arrested by
ice is still an example to be followed in the community.
(08:58):
I just black of self awareness by the Des Moines
school board at this point is absolutely, absolutely, just mortifying.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I got an email here from David says, I'm a
college educated guy who is on the verge of shutting
my business down and I have a hard time finding
new employment and this case ticks me off more than anything.
I mean, there are a lot of people that feel
this way, especially since this mindset that's rallying around this
guy is also the same one that was fighting your
(09:28):
secretary of state there in Iowa saying no, no, there's
no illegal voting going on and we don't need to
check the voting roles and all this stuff. It's we
have a massive change underway in this country. And this
is the kind of thing that President Trump said, Hey,
you liked me, We're gonna look for this kind of stuff,
(09:50):
and then he was elected and now he's doing it,
and people are like, I can't believe this man's out
of control. There's a lot the enforcement of the law.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
What a concept. But Scott, this is amazing because we
now still have people part of the governmental apparatus in
this country that still are part of the ideology that
you just articulated, that said, we don't need to be
applying to the law the law when we just don't
(10:20):
like the law and we don't like the people it
applies to, and so we don't really have a rule
of law. We had protesters across the state this weekend,
across Iowa saying free doctor Roberts. He's a great guy.
You're basically protesting against the rule of law. You don't
want to live in a country anymore where the law
is equally applied. You get to ignore the laws you
(10:43):
don't like. You only apply the laws to people that
you don't like, i e. Politically, And that's the country
these protesters want to live in. It in It's important
for citizens everywhere to just simply stand up and say
we are not going to allow this. We need the
laws equally applied, we need the rule of law to
be followed, we need to respect our law enforcement. Let
(11:04):
them do their jobs. Let's do the exact opposite of
the model that Ian Roberts demonstrated. This weekend.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Jeff Aslow just got done with a long shift entertaining
the good people of Des Moines and the surrounding area
and joins us here for an extra few minutes. Jeff,
thank you so much for doing a little overtime for
us here on eleven ten KFAB.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It was absolutely boy Scott.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
We'll talk to you again soon.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Scott Boyes, Mornings nine to eleven, Our News Radio eleven
ten KFAB
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