A white Baltimore County public school principal accused earlier this year of denigrating a black student and a Jewish family has now been found not guilty.
After months of investigation, it was discovered that Pikesville High School athletic director Dazhon Darien, who is black, made (fake) remarks using the AI-generated voice of Principal Eric Eiswert.
According to WBAL-11, law enforcement believes Darien made the recordings in retaliation for Eiswert's investigation into “possible mishandling” of school funds.
When the recording surfaced in the news and on social media in January, Superintendent Miriam Rogers said she was “deeply shocked,” adding that the district “will not tolerate disparaging comments about any member of the Team BCPS community.”
Rogers noted that at the time the district could not “verify the veracity” of the recordings but was working to do so. Eiswert was temporarily suspended and the school received numerous “hate-filled messages.”
Commenter on X, formerly Twitter, called for Eiswert's firing. The post said the principal “should have been fired on the spot,” “he better go quickly,” and “no parent or teacher will have any trust in him going forward.” He will resign or be fired.”
But at least one commentator was prescient.
This sounds a bit staged. This could be Ai or something else. I feel like I practiced my tone too much.
— Teddy Michaels (@teddyuniverse) January 17, 2024
Eiswert maintained his innocence from the beginning and told investigators he knew who was behind the recordings. He said Darien was “dissatisfied” with his “contract not being renewed” and with performance issues, including firing coaches without official approval and paying teachers for helping him with his job.
more: The district's third racial fraud incident in the past year shows that racism isn't really a problem.
AI used to construct white principals:
Pikesville High School Principal Eric Eiswert was caught on tape using a racist rant.
People called for him to lose his job.
The only problem?
The entire recording was created with AI.
Former Athletic Director Dazhon Darien (Pikesville)… pic.twitter.com/E6bSbH7TQq
— EndWokeness (@EndWokeness) April 25, 2024
According to the document, Eiswert noted that Darien is “tech-savvy” and “familiar with AI.”
From the story:
Police said Thursday afternoon that, based on forensic analysis by the FBI, detectives have definitive evidence that the recordings are not authentic. Police said analysis showed the recording contained traces of AI-generated content. Investigators then requested additional analysis from the University of California, Berkeley, and the results were identical to the FBI's analysis. …
Police said Darien used the school's network to search for AI tools. Darien originally denied involvement, but police later linked the email address from which the audio clips were sent to Darien's grandmother's home in Los Angeles, which had a recovery phone number for Darien's cell phone.
Police said the audio clip was originally sent to a group of friends made up of three teachers. One of the educators admitted to police that she had sent the clip to news media and that a student she knew would spread it.
Darien was taken into custody Thursday while boarding a flight to Houston. Police did not say whether he was trying to leave their jurisdiction, but did note that he was carrying a firearm.
more: Black student admits to writing racist graffiti in high school bathroom
Image: Christian Horz/Shutterstock.com
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