DISD Teacher In Hot Water Over Classroom Stunt
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A teacher in the Dallas Independent School District is learning a hard lesson after a viral video showed her shooting a squirt gun at an image of President Donald Trump. The video first appeared on an Instagram account associated with the teacher's name.
Some students at Adamson High School stated that it was clear to them that the stunt was meant as a joke. But threatening a president is no laughing matter, and now school officials are investigating after putting the teacher on administrative leave.
Pointing what appears to be a water gun at the image of Trump projected on a whiteboard, then yelling "Die," art teacher Payal Modi's actions have now been seen by countless viewers across the internet. But when Adamson High School junior Leslie Jaimes saw a news camera outside of her school, she had something to say. "Justice for Modi," Jaimes said.
Jaimes said that she was in Modi's second period class on Inauguration Day, when her teacher pulled out the water gun that she had taken from a student. "Trump came out and she shot at him, but like, it was just a water gun," Jaimes said. "It's no big deal."
Senior student Briana Castillo said that she sympathizes with the frustration seen on display in the video, but Modi crossed a line. "Although her actions didn't display that she was a good role model, she's always there and supports my classmates, my peers," Castillo said.
None of the students spoken to on Thursday said that they wanted Modi to lose her job. But, for now, the teacher's fate is not clear. CBS 11 News reached out to Modi, but she did not return calls and no one answered the door at her home.
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