Bus driver who made ‘incendiary and derogatory’ comment no longer with Richland One
A bus driver who worked for Richland County School District One for 16 years is no longer an employee following an “incendiary and derogatory” comment made on social media after Saturday’s protests in Columbia, the school district said.
“The person who made the comment on Facebook is no longer employed by Richland One,” Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon said Monday in a news release.
School district spokeswoman Karen York confirmed the former employee was a bus driver. But she would not say if it was the bus driver who commented on Facebook: “Treat them like Rabid Dog’s and SHOOT them!!!!”
York told The State the man had been a bus driver for Richland One since August 2004.
The post was made on Saturday after a curfew was put in place for Columbia, as protests that started as peaceful devolved into riots in response to the death of a black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis on May 25 while in police custody.
On Saturday night, the school district started receiving “numerous screenshots of a Facebook post that contained incendiary and derogatory language,” Witherspoon said in the release. The superintendent said an investigation was launched as soon as it was brought to the school district’s attention. On Sunday he said appropriate action would be taken based on the results.
York said the investigation that concluded Monday was conducted by the school district’s human resources department.
“To those who questioned whether we, as a district, condoned or supported the comment that was made, I can assure you that we did not and we do not,” Witherspoon said. “In Richland One, our core values include respect and compassion for all people. We hold our employees to high standards of excellence and expect their words and actions to reflect those core values not just while they are at work, but at all times.”
Tensions have been raised across the U.S. as Floyd’s death has sparked national outrage since a video showed a police officer kneeling on his neck before he died.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Bus driver who made ‘incendiary and derogatory’ comment no longer with Richland One."
