DES MOINES, Iowa — New details are now available in the timeline leading up to the detainment of Des Moines Public School Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts by immigration officials as the district’s 30,000 students and 5,000 staff members return to classrooms Monday morning.

DMPS Director of Communications Phil Roeder told WHO 13 News that Roberts was originally on his way to Windsor Elementary School on Friday morning. Roeder said the superintendent was scheduled to run with students, which is something he frequently did since he competed in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, representing Guyana in track and field.

However, Roberts never made it to Windsor Elementary. Instead, he texted Roeder just before 9 a.m. to let him know he had an emergency.

Roeder said he received a FaceTime call from Roberts around 45 minutes later.

“I got a FaceTime call from him, which in itself was a little odd,” he said. “I FaceTime with my grandkids, but, you know, not necessarily with colleagues, but because of his earlier message and because he’s the boss, you know, I answered it and yeah, took a few seconds to recognize what I was watching.”

Roeder said the call only lasted around 20 seconds. He saw that Roberts was surrounded “by three or four law enforcement officials” and that one of them clearly had “a long gun of some sort.”

He described seeing that Roberts appeared to be handcuffed and was standing with his hands behind his back.

“It took me a few seconds to even really, I mean, to know what you’re looking at,” Roeder said. “[I] finally, said,’ Dr. Roberts, can you hear me? Is everything okay?’ and the call ended.”

Roeder said he wasn’t sure who made the call or if the call was even intentional. However, he said the call was beneficial for the Des Moines Public School District because they were quickly able to learn that he was detained by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“I think it was a good four or five hours after that call before ICE put something out themselves,” said Roeder.

That press release from ICE said that Roberts entered the United States in 1999 from Guyana with a student visa and was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May 2024. That order was given exactly one year after Roberts was appointed Superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district.

Roberts was detained Friday morning after fleeing from officers, according to the release. He was driving a district vehicle and had a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash, and a fixed-blade hunting knife.

“This should be a wake-up call for our communities to the great work that our officers are doing every day to remove public safety threats. How this illegal alien was hired without work authorization, a final order of removal, and a prior weapons charge is beyond comprehension and should alarm the parents of that school district,” said ICE ERO St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson.

The release also stated that Roberts had existing weapon possession charges from February 2020 in Pennsylvania. State records show he pleaded guilty to the charge in 2022.

Des Moines Public Schools named Matt Smith as Interim Superintendent. Smith served as the Associate Superintendent since July 2018, but also served as interim Superintendent of DMPS during the 2022-23 school year when Dr. Thomas Ahart resigned from the position.

The Des Moines Public School Board held a special session Saturday evening, where they unanimously voted to put Roberts on paid administrative leave until they learn more information.

The district reaffirmed that all of the documentation they received from Roberts indicated he was a citizen and eligible to work in the United States.

According to the district, he passed their own third-party background check as well as an FBI background check conduced by the Iowa Department of Education.

School Board President, Jackie Norris, joined Today in Iowa Sunday where she said the district was not aware of the immigration judge’s removal order.

“The district never received information from any entity, and that’s concerning. We are taking that very seriously, but we did not receive that information,” she said.

Norris said there is still a lot of information that the district is waiting to receive from officials, but she is confident the district can move forward.

“Right now, we have such confidence in Matt Smith. He has been in this role before, and the most important thing we need to do is continue to do the business that we do every day, and we do it well. And I have to say, I’m a little tired of people picking on Des Moines Public Schools. Our literacy scores are going up, we are headed in the right direction, and so what people can do right now is love our students and support our teachers,” she said.

Roberts is very involved in the Des Moines Public Schools, so as students head back to school on Monday without him, Norris said the district is prepared to talk with students in need.

Roberts is currently being held at the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center in Sioux City, Iowa. WHO 13 News learned that Roberts has retained the legal services of Parrish Kruidenier Law Firm. As of Monday morning, his legal services have not commented on the case.

The Iowa Board of Education released on Monday that the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked Dr. Roberts’ license, making him ineligible to serve as a school superintendent.

Protests in support of Roberts started as early as Friday afternoon. Hundreds of Iowans gathered outside of the Neal Smith Federal Building on Friday and nearly three dozen people attended a protest on Saturday outside of the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center.

More protests are expected to continue this week with one scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. on Monday outside of the Neal Smith Federal Building in Des Moines.

The NAACP visited Roberts over the weekend. In a release posted to Facebook, the organization wrote, “He expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support from individuals and organizations nationwide and reaffirmed his commitment to education and ensuring students thrive. Dr. Roberts shared that he is in good spirits and that his faith in God will sustain him.”

The NAACP is assisting his wife at Roberts’ request.

“Our prayers are with Dr. Roberts, his family, and our community,” said Betty Andrews, NAACP Iowa-Nebraska State Area President and National NAACP Board Member. “We will continue to monitor this situation closely and stand firmly in contending for justice.”