WOODBURY, Minn. — Racial justice advocates are calling for action and accountability.
That’s after accusations that a substitute teacher reenacted the murder of George Floyd on a student.
Images, that can be disturbing for some to see, show what students describe as substitute teacher, Steven Williams, with a knee on a student’s neck.
A reenactment of the police actions that resulted in the murder of George Floyd.
We do know the substitute teacher in question, Steven Williams, is no longer employed by the staffing agency, Teachers on Call, that Woodbury High School contracts for its substitute teachers.
Williams is a police officer in Prescott, Wisconsin.
The police chief says he is on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation into the matter.
“It was egregious, it was insensitive and it was racist, ” said Nekima Levy Armstrong, civil rights attorney.
Racial justice advocates say more needs to be done.
“He needs to be banned from being a substitute teacher anywhere in the state of Minnesota,” said Levy Armstrong. “I also believe he needs to be fired. Who wants that kind of person coming to your door, if you have to make a 911 call, who harbors a lot of racial [animosity], who claims that police brutality doesn’t exist and who is willing to demonstrate a very deadly police technique on a young black boy.”
Woodbury High School issued a statement to parents about what they describe as a racially harmful situation that affected the school community.
It listed comments and actions students described—including claims that he can get away with murder and that police brutality is not real.
“I do think that more drastic actions need to happen. I also think there needs to be a lot of repair work that the Woodbury school district needs to do. They need to go beyond making a statement and create opportunities for dialog for the students to be heard,” said Levy Armstrong.
The Minnesota Department of Education has not yet responded to our request for Williams’ employment record.
Woodbury High School says its Director of Equity and Inclusion and other leaders will work to repair harm done to students and staff.
Reg Chapman
Reg Chapman joined WCCO-TV in May of 2009. He came to WCCO from WNBC-TV in New York City where he covered an array of stories for the station including the Coney Island plane crash, the crane collapse on the city’s east side, 50 shots fired at motorist Sean Bell by New York Police, and a lacrosse team assault at Fairfield High School in Connecticut.
