No charges for substitute teacher who reenacted George Floyd murder during class

By David Griswold | KARE 11

No charges will be filed against a former substitute teacher who students say reenacted the police actions that led to the murder of George Floyd during class.

The incident, which occurred back in October, is detailed in a police report that included multiple interviews with Woodbury High School students who were in the classroom when the reenactment occurred. Following the incident, the school district sought to press charges “if applicable.” However, law enforcement officials and the Washington County Attorney’s Office later determined that no felony statutes fit the situation, according to the report. The students who were interviewed also declined to press criminal charges.

The substitute teacher, who was also a police officer in Prescott, Wis., resigned from his law enforcement position, and is no longer an employee with the substitute staffing service he was contracted through.

According to the incident report, one of the students told the school resource officer that the sub mentioned to the class that he was a police officer in Wisconsin, and then pressed the class to ask him questions about the job. After answering generic inquiries about traffic stops, the sub noticed a “Black Lives Matter” poster hanging in the classroom. He then allegedly went into his personal beliefs about BLM, including that he believes it’s a criminal organization.

The incident report states the sub then went on to talk about George Floyd's murder, saying he believed Floyd died because of a drug overdose, despite the Hennepin County Medical Examiner saying the cause of death was “cardiopulmonary arrest.” He also told students that he didn’t believe police brutality was real, and then asked the classroom for volunteers so he could demonstrate how police are trained.

The sub then asked one student if he could use him as an example. The student was “apprehensive” about it and stated, “No,” according to the incident report. After telling the student he wouldn’t hurt him, the sub proceeded to encourage the student to participate. The student told police his classmate appeared “pressured,” but agreed to participate in the demonstration.

The student went on to describe the demonstration, saying that the sub put his shoulder on his classmate’s neck, just about the shoulder blades. The student said at one point the sub put his knee on the back of the student’s neck. He said the sub didn’t apply “full pressure” and stated that there were no physical marks or bruising.

The student reported the sub went on to explain that when suspects are in that position, officers would often sit suspects up and lean them up on a squad car. While in this position, the student said the sub put one of his hands behind his back, then grabbed his hand and slightly folded his wrist, similar to a wrist lock. The student said the sub told the classmate to “tap out” if they were feeling uncomfortable, which they did “right away.” The student said their classmate felt slight physical pain from the maneuver. Despite the sub stopping the wrist maneuver immediately, he still had his shin on the back of the classmate’s neck. The student said the demonstration lasted about 30-45 seconds.

According to the incident report, multiple students said they felt “awkward” and “uncomfortable” when describing the climate inside the classroom. One student also told police that the sub was showing him the pressure points on their hand, face and arm. While showing them, the sub placed his hands on the student’s cheek and behind their ears. The sub also demonstrated pressure points on their arm, and one student described him as being “very hands on and physical in touch.”

One student said the sub never asked them to be a volunteer for a demonstration, and instead grabbed their hand in a “jerky motion.” The student said they were “weirded out,” and at one point felt slight discomfort after one of the twists.

One student also told police that the sub talked about a murder case and rape cases, but didn’t go into much detail.

Following the incident, Woodbury High School principal Sarah Sorenson-Wagner sent a letter to families calling the actions “inappropriate and racially harmful behavior involving a substitute teacher.”

“This reported behavior is reprehensible. I am embarrassed, and I am sorry this happened to our students,” Sorenson-Wagner wrote in the letter. “... The reported actions are not, and will not, be tolerated at Woodbury High School or in South Washington County Schools.”

Sorenson-Wagner said this was the only time the sub had been at Woodbury High School, and added that she wasn’t aware of any complaints filed against him within the district office. She was, however, notified that he subbed at Woodbury Middle School the week prior and demonstrated pressure points on an eighth-grade student, according to the incident report.

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