Matthew Bak, Legal Defense Campaign

01/08/2025

PRETRIAL MOTIONS AND CAMPAIGN PROGRESS

Matthew appeared yesterday morning with his defense attorney Lance Baker, in Anderson County Criminal Court yesterday for the first time. Mr. Baker filed several pretrial discovery motions to compel the prosecution to share any and all documentation, statements and evidence they claim supports Matthew's charges. The Prosecution has a set number of days to fully comply with the motions, under the discovery rules and must do so before March 17th of this year.

Arriving early, Matthew and his supporters sat in the front right side, but when the clerks and other staff arrived, we were instructed to move to the left side of the courtroom, as over 50 shackled and handcuffed prisoners were led in. This was a somber reminder that without the kind of financial support Matthew has received from a number of people, he too would still be held in jail, unable to make bail, waiting for his trial to begin. Instead, he is now approaching his first-year anniversary as a bus driver for the City of Knoxville and he is confidence is strengthened by your resolve.

On a better note, we are currently just $117 short of our pre-trial goal of $8000. In the next few weeks if the trial formally gets under way our expenses are covered. Should Matthew's trial proceed we'll need to raise additional funds. We want to take this moment to thank all who have helped us get through this stage of the process from the bottom of our hearts. Your donations have helped us reach many more who join you in demanding justice for Matthew.

Matthew appeared yesterday morning with his defense attorney Lance Baker, in Anderson County Criminal Court yesterday for the first time. Mr. Baker filed several pretrial discovery motions to compel the prosecution to share any and all documentation, statements and evidence they claim supports Matthew's charges. The Prosecution has a set number of days to fully comply with the motions, under the discovery rules and must do so before March 17th of this year.

Arriving early, Matthew and his supporters sat in the front right side, but when the clerks and other staff arrived, we were instructed to move to the left side of the courtroom, as over 50 shackled and handcuffed prisoners were led in. This was a somber reminder that without the kind of financial support Matthew has received from a number of people, he too would still be held in jail, unable to make bail, waiting for his trial to begin. Instead, he is now approaching his first-year anniversary as a bus driver for the City of Knoxville and he is confidence is strengthened by your resolve.

On a better note, we are currently just $117 short of our pre-trial goal of $8000. In the next few weeks if the trial formally gets under way our expenses are covered. Should Matthew's trial proceed we'll need to raise additional funds. We want to take this moment to thank all who have helped us get through this stage of the process from the bottom of our hearts. Your donations have helped us reach many more who join you in demanding justice for Matthew.

12/02/2024

FLASH: MATTHEW'S TRIAL SCHEDULED TO START JANUARY 6TH IN THE ANDERSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE IN CLINTON TN.

Fifteen months after his arrest, on January 6th, 2025, at 9:00 AM, Matthew Bak will appear before the judge of the Tennessee Seventh Judicial District in the Circuit Court room in Clinton, Tennessee, charged with aggravated assault-strangulation. This is a Class C felony which carries up to a 15-year sentence with a conviction.

Facts of the Case

• In early November 2023, Matthew Bak, a school bus driver with three years of safe driving experience, was asked to drive an additional afterschool route transporting 12 third and fourth grade children. On his first drive-through he was accompanied by the previous driver, who spent the entire trip directing his route from the middle of a group of loud girls. She constantly had to tell them not to distract the driver.

• On the second evening he was alone and forced to make an emergency stop and assign seats to maintain order and be able to drive the five-ton bus without distraction. At one stop, a female child not scheduled to leave attempted to exit with the others. After Matthew prevented her from exiting, she returned to her assigned seat, telling him later “I hate you!”

• On the evening of November 3rd, 2023, during his third and last run as a school bus driver, he heard a male child several seats behind him calling softly, “Help, help me!” He looked back in the mirror and saw one of the loud young girls sitting on the boy’s lap. Meanwhile, a second girl stormed up from the back of the bus and struck the first girl on her back. At that point Matthew pulled the bus over and followed the youthful assailant and her victim to the back of the bus, insisting firmly that they return to and remain in their assigned seats. Others in the group were shouting and laughing, making a lot of noise.

• Upon reaching the row where the assigned window seats were located, the assailant child sat near the aisle with her legs tucked and refused to move to the window. With her continued refusal, Matthew grasped her lapel with both hands to avoid bodily contact and insisted that she move to the window, at which she began wailing loudly. Meanwhile, other children opened the bus windows and began yelling to passing cars, “Help, help, we’re not kidding!” leading a passing motorist to call 911. As he returned to his seat he told the children, “Shut up,” which apparently shocked them into allowing him to resume the drive without distraction.
• At the next-to last drop-off point for one child, Matthew blocked the remaining group of children who approached the door angrily demanding to be dropped off. At that point the Oak Ridge Police Department arrived. When one officer asked Matthew what was going on, Matthew told him he was trying to restore order. The remaining students’ parents were contacted to pick up their children and Matthew was offered a ride back to his car by an officer, who suggested it would be a good idea if he left the area before the parents arrived “possibly with their own agenda.” The next afternoon, police officers from ORPD arrested him at home, after an email press release was sent to all parents and the media from Dr. Borchers, school superintendent, announcing Matthew’s arrest on a charge of aggravated assault and that further charges were pending.

• NOTE: In responding to the actions of the assailant child in striking another child on the bus Matthew was breaking up a fight in progress. Her refusal to agree to a direct and reasonable command to sit and remain in her assigned seat put the entire bus and the public in serious danger. Oak Ridge Board of Education document 6.300 titled Code of Conduct, Section, MISBEHAVIORS: LEVEL IV Page 4, paragraph 34-37 describes these as “acts which result in violence to another’s person or property, or which pose a threat to the safety of others…” page 5, paragraph 1-3 “If a student’s action poses a threat to the safety of others in the school, a teacher, principal, school employee or school bus driver may use reasonable force when necessary to prevent bodily harm or death to another person.” Matthew’s actions constituted reasonable force, and he denies any attempt to strangle anyone.

• Following the incident, a medical examination of the child in question by the Child Advocacy Center in Clinton found no evidence of strangulation. And at the preliminary hearing in July the alleged victim testified under oath that Matthew did not try to strangle her, despite the police investigator’s earlier belief that the child’s interview taken immediately after the incident described strangulation. In this case there was no chance of calling a school psychologist or principal to help manage the situation much less an adult monitor - he was on his own. The suggestion by the police and school superintendent that the problem was that the driver was “a danger to the students” turned the situation completely on its head. Actually, Matthew was trying to PROTECT the children from endangering themselves and others without any support or backup!

• POSTSCRIPT: The following morning, after spending his first night ever in a jail and posting bail on the $75,000 bond, Matthew was immediately contacted by a local TV reporter to “tell his side of the story.” The media report, which focused entirely on the question of “how angry he was,” was a prime example of stirring the pot with sensationalized reporting and was a disservice to public safety and the children involved. Matthew was dealing with a situation that posed a real danger to the students and the public, and regardless of how “angry” he felt, his actions were totally within the boundaries of official school policy and the law.

WE ENCOURAGE ALL SUPPORTERS OF JUSTICE TO JOIN US IN SHOWING SUPPORT FOR MATTHEW AT THE OPENING OF HIS TRIAL, MONDAY, JANUARY 6TH AT 9 AM AT THE ANDERSON COUNTY COURTHOUSE IN CLINTON, TN. (Near Knoxville)

10/31/2024

A Letter to an Editor - - On Nov. 6, 2023, the OAK RIDGER newspaper published an article, headlined, “OAK RIDGE POLICE ARREST BUS DRIVER AFTER REPORTS OF AGGRESSIVE ACTIONS TOWARD STUDENT.” The police press release stated, “Matthew T. Bak, 73, of Oliver Springs, was charged with acting aggressively toward an elementary school-age student on the bus he was driving Thursday, Nov. 2. Other students on the bus feared for their safety.”

The police report at the time stated that the child’s statement “described an action by Matthew ‘consistent with strangulation, ‘with the child saying they were afraid they were ‘going to die’ and that they were never going to see their parents again.” However, on June 27, 2024, a preliminary hearing held to show justification for the arrest did not support the police narrative. At the hearing, the “victim” contradicted her earlier statement and said that Matthew did not try to strangle anyone. This contradiction is understandable given her young age. According to a policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Substantial literature exists on children being subject to suggestibility by parents and authority figures as well as intimidation during police or courtroom procedures. The ability to detect whether a child is lying for professionals, including psychologists, psychiatrists, and law enforcement, is no better than chance and often significantly less than chance.” [The Child Witness in the Courtroom, March 01, 2017]. This was also corroborated at the hearing by the medical report stating that there was no evidence of physical assault nor criminal evidence from the onboard video.
An email by School Superintendent Borchers sent to school parents and the local media on November 3rd prior to the arrest also condemned Matthew’s actions. In it he explained that “safety and well-being of our students is our top priority, and the actions of the bus driver was an egregious violation of the values and standards of Oak Ridge Schools.” He stated further that “the administration obtained video footage from the event, reviewed the footage and acted swiftly and decisively to remove the bus driver” and “we have turned over all [camera] footage to the Oak Ridge Police Department and are assisting with their ongoing investigation of the incident in any way that we can.”
While reassuring to know that safety of students is the top priority of the Oak Ridge school district administration, this post leaves questions unanswered. To begin with, a review of all footage would explain Matthew’s efforts. Matthew’s actions were in response to a serious pattern of misbehavior by children running in the aisle, provoking others, and engaging in violent play. Instead, the Superintendent and the police focused on Matthew’s insistence that they remain in their assigned seats.
If the Superintendent was serious about bus safety, he would have addressed the cause and not fired the school bus driver for following instructions. Other drivers had complained about this behavior on this route and quit. Why was no action taken? Why was there no adult monitor assigned to maintain order and avoid a serious accident?
Matthew will certainly be exonerated should this ever go to trial. Despite the pre-trial publicity which cast him as an angry criminal, Matthew is a 30-year professional piano teacher to young students. In January, Knoxville Area Transit hired Matthew as a full-time bus driver knowing he was on bail. He continues to work there with the full support of management and his co-workers. He has also received support from many including former students and parents in the Oak Ridge area in requesting that the charges be dropped.
Will you join us?

Respectfully submitted,
Oct 28, 2024
Clemens R. Bak, (Brother)

10/29/2024

Change in Legal Representation

Earlier this year, the Baker Law Firm, located in Nashville has agreed to provide Matthew expert legal counsel going forward. Lance Baker is a prominent Tennessee Attorney with over 10 years' experience specializing in Civil Rights and Criminal Justice Law. While the heavy-handed charges levied against Matthew by both the authorities and the school system superintendent are criminal in nature, our perspective is that the real issue behind this prosecution is a profound violation of Matthew's rights. Matthew's efforts to get the young students to cooperate and accept his reasonable directions was viewed as an embarrassment by the school district administration because it revealed the system's failure to address an ongoing student management problem. Not recognizing that this extreme behavior is what actually puts children in great danger, as opposed to the false charge that their bus driver was trying to frighten them. Parents, teachers and staff are focused on safety as part of the childhood education. A bus driver has to drive the bus safely and must rely on the cooperation of his passengers to do so. Convicting Matthew for simply trying to convince the children to follow the bus rules sets a chilling example for drivers, staff and teachers in the school system.

The Baker Law Firm has both the experience and the courage to call out those in authority, when their actions undermine public safety and the rule of law.

Our Knoxville civil rights attorney represents cases involving police brutality and excessive force in Knoxville, TN. Call 865-200-4117 for a free consultation.

10/13/2024

Matthew Bak Legal Defense Campaign Update
10/13/2024

Dear Facebook Friends and Supporters

We are still awaiting the decision of the Anderson County Grand Jury in this matter. It is now nearly one year since Matthew Bak was falsely accused by Oak Ridge Police officers who arrested and charged him with aggravated assault for “acting aggressive” towards a child on the school bus he was driving.

According to the Oak Ridge Police press report widely circulated by the print and TV media, “Bak stopped the bus in the middle of the road twice and did not let any kids off. The officers reviewed camera footage on the bus and said they could see Bak going to the back of the bus to the rear driver's side. He was seen telling one of the kids to sit down. ORPD said the video then showed Bak grabbing the child's leg "and appears to be attempting to reposition" their leg.”

However, on June 27th, eight months after his arrest, a public preliminary hearing held to show the court the justification for the arrest did not support the police narrative. In the presentation of a recording by the bus camera (located in the front of the bus) none of the above details was shown. Nor could it, since the seated child's camera angle was blocked by the high seat-back in front of her.

The police report, according to the press release, further said that the child’s statement “described an action by Matthew 'consistent with strangulation,' with the child saying they were afraid they were 'going to die' and that they were never going to see their parents again.” At the hearing the child “victim” contradicted her earlier statement and said that Matthew did not try to strangle her. This hearing testimony was further corroborated by the medical report from the Child Protective Services which stated that there was no evidence of any physical assault. The lack of veracity in the child’s statements to the police can be understood given her age.

According to a policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Substantial experimental literature exists on children being subject to suggestibility by parents and authority figures as well as intimidation during police or courtroom procedures. The ability to detect whether a child is lying for professionals, including psychologists, psychiatrists, and law enforcement, is no better than chance and often significantly less than chance.” [The Child Witness in the Courtroom – American Academy of Pediatrics, March 01, 2017]

An email by Bruce T. Borchers, Oak Ridge School Superintendent sent to all school parents and the local media on November 3rd the same day as the police press release, also condemned Matthew’s actions. In it Borchers stated that “the safety and well-being of our students is our top priority, and the actions of the bus driver was an egregious violation of the values and standards of Oak Ridge Schools. Immediately following the incident, Oak Ridge Schools administration worked with our transportation company, First Student, to obtain video footage from the event, reviewed the footage and acted swiftly and decisively to remove the bus driver involved from all Oak Ridge bus assignments. We have turned over all footage to the Oak Ridge Police Department and are assisting with their ongoing investigation of the incident in any way that we can.”
While it may be reassuring to know that the safety and well-being of the students is the top priority of the Oak Ridge school district administration, this response leaves a lot of questions unanswered. To begin with, a review of ALL OF THE FOOTAGE from the event would have included the actions of the children that explained Matthew’s efforts to gain control of the bus. Matthew's actions were in response to a serious and escalating pattern of misbehavior by a small group of children, who defied his insistence that they stop running in the aisle, provoking others, and engaging in violent play. It was his insistence that they return to their assigned seats that was the “incident” that the superintendent and the Oak Ridge police officers focused on in their allegations. If the Superintendent was serious about his safety priorities, he would have addressed the cause and not immediately blamed the school bus driver for doing exactly what he was instructed to do. In fact, several previous drivers had run into the same conduct by these children and complained about it to the Transportation Supervisor WITHOUT ANY ACTION TAKEN, which was why Matthew ended up taking on the extra duty. With the foreknowledge of this pattern of behavior the question is why there was NO ADULT MONITOR assigned to the route to provide support to the driver and eliminate the danger of a serious accident either in the bus or with the bus.
This is not the first time Dr. Borchers has rushed to invoke children’s safety in a baseless pursuit against an individual, involved with the school system that led to conflict. In 2015 using eerily similar language in pursuit of a teacher and coach, his efforts failed to convince law enforcement to charge retired chemistry teacher John (Eddie) Anderson with any crime and led instead to a lawsuit against Dr. Borchers, his assistant, and the entire Oak Ridge school system that was settled in 2020 for $1.75 million in Mr. Anderson’s favor for lack of due process and defamation which “cast him in a highly offensive false light before the public.”

We are determined to fight this injustice and fully expect Matthew to be exonerated should this actually go to trial. Despite the pre-trial publicity which cast Matthew (who spent 30 years as a teacher working with young students), as a criminal and child safety risk, Matthew has received support from neighbors, citizens, and many former students and parents in the Oak Ridge area. In January, Knoxville Area Transit hired Matthew as a full-time driver knowing he was on bail. He continues to work there with the support of management and his co-workers. We are in the process of ramping up our efforts to force the authorities to drop the charges against Matthew. A pamphlet/brochure has been published and is being distributed to his co-workers and friends as well as community organizations.

Thank you for your support!

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10/11/2024

It is now nearly one year since Matthew Bak was arrested by city police officers for aggravated assault for “allegedly acting aggressive” towards a child on the school bus he was driving for the Oak Ridge School System. After months of delay, in July the local DA's office presented a short video from the bus camera and two witnesses who were both less than 10 years old in a brief evidentiary hearing. The video, purported to show Matthew's crime, simply showed him strongly insisting that a child stay seated in the back of the bus.

During the hearing testimony, the child who was the "victim" told the court that Matthew did not hurt or scare her or anyone else on the bus. Matthew who has yet had the opportunity to answer this charge maintains his innocence. Despite this, the judge passed the case over to the Grand Jury who will at some point decide whether a crime was actually committed and schedule a trial. If convicted Matthew faces up to 15 years in jail. The family and friends of Matthew Bak have been working hard to support Matthew. Money has been raised to cover the existing legal fees, but not nearly enough. The purpose of this page is to provide up-to-date information to the public and help draw attention to this unwarranted prosecution. A fund-raising site has been established to raise money for his defense which includes attorney fees, bail and community outreach to set the record straight. So far we have raised $6,178 towards a pretrial goal of $8,000 to cover the remaining lawyers fees. If this does go to trial, we will need to raise at the minimum an additional $25,000. Click on the link below to contribute. Any amount is appreciated. Thank you for your support!

This is the story of Matthew Bak, a 74-year-old former music teacher and classically trained pianist who spent over 3 decades sharing his skills and knowledge with young students in the Oak Ridge Community. He built a successful home tutoring business, driving to his student’s home where after