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A substitute teacher was removed from a Minnesota high school classroom after he allegedly engaged in "racially harmful behavior," including reenacting George Floyd's murder.
Wisconsin police officer Steven Dwayne Williams, a substitute teacher at Woodbury High School in Washington County, Minnesota, performed "the prone restraint on a student in the fourth period English class," Shawn Hogendorf, communications director for South Washington County Schools, said in a statement per CNN.
In a letter to the school community, administrators said Williams “put a student on the ground in front of the class as part of a reenactment of the police actions that resulted in the murder of George Floyd."
“Police brutality isn’t real,” Williams allegedly told students, according to the school letter. The substitute teacher also allegedly told students that “cops would be the best criminals” and that “they know how to get away with stuff.”
Woodbury High School principal Sarah Sorenson-Wagner called the incident “a racially harmful situation.” Sorenson-Wagner noted that the teacher was immediately removed from the classroom and walked out of the school following complaints from students.
“We are continuing to investigate the incident, but I want to assure you the substitute teacher will not be back at Woodbury High School again,” the school said in a statement.
The Woodbury Police Department has also launched an investigation into the incident.
“We are disturbed by the preliminary information of what occurred,” Woodbury Public Safety Director Jason Posel said in a statement. “The safety of the students, teachers, staff, and our community is our top priority. We will investigate this incident to the fullest extent while showing compassion to the students impacted.”
Williams was also reported to the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board. The Prescott, Wisconsin, Police Department, where Williams had been employed for the past two years as a patrol officer, put him on administrative leave amid the investigation.
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