William Bennett, a Kentucky teacher who was seen in a viral video pulling a student's hair and pinning him to the ground during an incident in August, has been fired, Insider reports. Jefferson County Public Schools terminated the former science teacher at Marion C. Moore School in Louisville in December.
According to a letter from the district, 16-year-old student Jamir Strane appeared to first punch Bennett in the back of the head. Insider reports. Bennett, however, "escalated the situation" and made "inappropriate comments" about the student, the document states. The teacher "caught the student" and put his "whole body weight on top of him," according to the district.
Video of the incident shows other students trying to free Strane as Bennett pinned him to the ground. "Get the f**k off him," the students can be heard saying. The 16-year-old was able to walk away after another adult arrived to de-escalate the situation.
According to the investigation, Bennett then "proceeded to engage in the altercation," pursuing the student down the hallway, having a verbal exchange and kicking him.
One unnamed student said he overheard the teacher telling Strane that he was "just another Black boy that got shot," as Blavity previously reported. Bennett admitted to saying something to Strane "about being shot," the investigation added. The district determined that the teacher provoked the student with his inappropriate comments.
Speaking with KMOV4 in August, Strane said Bennett told him that he is going to "end up in the streets dead." The teenager said the comment was traumatizing for him because he was shot in a drive-by shooting in 2020.
According to Strane, the fight started after Bennett objected to the mask he was wearing.
"As I'm transitioning into my fourth period class, which is chemistry, going to his classroom, he tells me I'm not able to walk into his classroom with the bandana that I have on, but it’s a face mask," Strane told KMOV4. "This is the first time, but I've worn it before in the classroom, that's why I don't get what he's saying.”
The teen said Bennett kneed him in the face and left him with a bloody skinned knee near his gunshot wounds. Bennett, who was also suspected of being racist, presented photos of his non-white family members while speaking with investigators, hoping to clear his name.
Marion C. Moore School principal Traci Hunt told investigators that Bennett previously refused to complete the school's mandatory implicit bias training. The principal also said the educator was involved in a previous incident with a school counselor, which raised concerns about his performance.
Additionally, the terminated teacher had at least one other physical run-in with a student at a prior job.
Strane's mother, Erica Strane, filed a lawsuit against Bennett and Jefferson County Public Schools. She alleged that the teacher slammed the teen, pummeled him and restrained him while "yelling obscenities, profanity and racial slurs." According to the lawsuit, Jamir suffered "physical, mental, emotional stress, strain, and humiliation."
