Coach loses job over Facebook photo about George Floyd’s death, Washington school says
A wrestling coach’s photo of himself reenacting the death of George Floyd, the black man who died after Minneapolis police pinned him to the ground this week, lost his job at a Washington school district, officials say.
Bethel School District investigated a Facebook post by Dave Hollenbeck, a coach at Bethel High School the past school year, a spokesman told McClatchy News. Hollenbeck was a first-year coach not currently working for the school because the season is over, according to the district.
A spokesman said Thursday evening that Hollenbeck no longer will be employed by the school district.
“His behavior was not consistent with our equity initiatives and nondiscrimination policies,” the spokesman said.
In Minneapolis, Floyd was pinned to the ground by police officers, saying repeatedly “I can’t breathe,” before he died Monday. The city fired four officers involved in the incident, and Mayor Jacob Frey said the police officer who pinned the man should be arrested.
A now-deleted Facebook photo by Hollenbeck shows himself giving a thumbs-up while pinned to the ground by another person, KIRO reported.
“Not dead yet,” Hollenbeck posted, according to a screenshot by a KIRO reporter. “This is for all the race baiters and people that don’t (know) what they’re talking about when they’re saying that this could kill you.”
Hollenbeck defended his Facebook post and apologized that “I offended anybody,” KOMO reported.
“I’m not a racist man,” Hollenbeck told KOMO. “I don’t have that in me, my children don’t have that in them, I didn’t instill that in them. I’m sorry that I offended anybody, that was not my point. I was trying to show something.”
Since Floyd’s death, protesters have marched in Minnesota to demonstrate against the police officers’ actions, throwing rocks, water bottles and other objects, photos and video show.
The police have met them with riot gear, spraying tear gas and shooting rubber bullets at the crowds, The Star-Tribune reported.
This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 1:26 PM with the headline "Coach loses job over Facebook photo about George Floyd’s death, Washington school says."