Kentucky Teacher Fired After Viral Video Captured Racist Student Assault
A Kentucky teacher, who was captured in a viral video pinning a student to the ground and pulling his hair, has been terminated.
According to documents obtained by Insider, William Bennett, a former science teacher at Marion C. Moore School in Louisville, was fired in December after an investigation by Jefferson County Public Schools found he “escalated the situation” and made “inappropriate comments” about the student.
His termination letter states that the August 2021 incident involved student Jamir Strane, 16, initiating it by allegedly punching Bennett in the back of the head before Bennett put his “whole body weight on top of him.”
Videos of the incident shared on social media show students witnessing the altercation and yelling, “Get the f**k off him” to Bennett and trying to help the student get out from under him.
The letter then says Bennett “proceeded to engage in the altercation” by reportedly following Strane down the hallway, where they had a verbal exchange with Bennett kicking him. It also states that Bennett admitted to saying something to Strane “about being shot,” which provoked the student to set off the initial verbal incident.
An unnamed student quoted in the report states that he overheard Bennett tell Strane he was “just another Black boy that got shot.” Strane has previously told KMOV he had been shot in a drive-by shooting in 2020 and that he punched Bennett after he said he was “going to end up in the streets dead.”
A Child Protective Services report reveals Bennett's comments were "triggering" for Strane, "who suffers ongoing emotional trauma as a previous gunshot victim."
According to Insider, Traci Hunt, the principal of Marion C. Moore School, told district investigators that Bennett previously refused to complete the school's mandatory implicit bias training and was involved with a previous incident with a school counselor.
Erica Strane, the student’s mother, has since filed a lawsuit against Bennett and Jefferson County Public Schools. It alleges Bennet reportedly slammed and pummeled Jamir, restraining him while “yelling obscenities, profanity and racial slurs at him,” seeks unspecified damages and argues that Jamir suffered “physical, mental, emotional stress, strain, and humiliation" as a result of the incident.
