Teacher Faces Backlash for Saying Breonna Taylor’s Death Was Her Own Fault
Written by SOURCE on March 1, 2021
Georgia high school teacher Susan McCoy has received a lot of justified criticism after she suggested Breonna Taylor was responsible for her own death.
The forensics teacher has gotten calls for her to be fired from her job at Pebblebrook High School in Mableton, Georgia, the Courier Journal reports.
“I’m sorry she was killed, but you know when you hang out with people with guns and shooting, you’re likely to get caught in the crossfire,” she could be heard saying about Taylor in a clip recorded by one of the students. “What’s her name—Breonna something—the woman who was killed in the gunfire from the cops.”
She went on to incorrectly assert that the no-knock search warrant was for Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. She said that Walker was “the guy who was wanted on charged… and he fired at them, and they fired back.” While Walker, a registered gun owner, did fire his gun at the police that came to search the apartment, it was actually her ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover and Adrian Walker who the police had suspected of selling drugs. She had been broken up with Glover for at least a month when she was fatally shot by police officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove on March 13, 2020.
Walker had no criminal record at the time he opened fire on the police, who he believed to be intruders.
TMZ reports that McCoy has apologized for her comments. “I want to apologize sincerely publicly for things I said today in my class that had to do with something that I was very ignorant about. I’m just heartbroken that I said something so rude and disrespectful.”
She continued, “I should never have talked about something that I didn’t understand and I truly, truly apologize and ask for forgiveness and hope that someday I can have that trust back with my students that I know that I lost.”
It is unclear if McCoy will face any disciplinary action for her ill-advised comments.
