Dazhon Darien Baltimore school athletic director at Pikesville High School arrested after investigators found conclusive evidence he had used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate racist comments purportedly that of school principal Eric Eiswert as retaliation following a probe and eventual firing.
A disgruntled former athletics director in Maryland has been arrested for attempting to pass off computer generated ‘racist’ recordings as that of his former school principal as an act of retaliation upon him being fired following a probe centred in the misuse of school funds.
Dazhon Leslie Darien, 31, a physical education teacher who had previously worked as the athletic director at Pikesville High School is accused of having used artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic the voice of the ‘white’ school principal, Eric Eiswert, ‘spewing racial and anti-Semitic insults about staff and students.’
A.I. USED TO FRAME WHITE PRINCIPAL:
Pikesville High principal Eric Eiswert was CAUGHT on tape having a racist rant.
People called for him to lose his job.
The only problem?
The whole recording was AI-generated.
Dazhon Darien, former athletic director (Pikesville) was… pic.twitter.com/E6bSbH7TQq
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 25, 2024
‘…ungrateful black kids who can’t test their way out of a paper bag’
Authorities believe the act was perpetrated as an act of retaliation against the principal who had previously ordered a probe against Darien who had been accused of mishandling of school funds, leading to the athletic director’s contract not being renewed and eventual dismissal.
The recording, which was posted to Instagram earlier this year, allegedly captures Eiswert making racially charged comments in which he is purportedly heard going on a racist rant denigrating, ‘blacks’ and ‘Jews.’
‘I seriously don’t understand why I have to constantly put up with these dumb a**** here every day,’ the speaker who appears to be the Pikesville High School principal is heard saying in one recording.
‘Between these ungrateful black kids who can’t test their way out of a paper bag or these teachers who don’t get it. How hard is it to get these students to meet their grade level expectations?’
An act of retaliation
The speaker said, ‘And if I have to get one more complaint from one more Jew in this community, I’m going to join the other side.’
According to Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough, the ruse was uncovered with police working alongside the FBI and forensic experts from the University of California at Berkeley following the recording circulating online in January 2024.
‘Dazhon Darien, the school’s athletic director, produced the recording to retaliate against Principal Eiswert, who had initiated a probe into the mishandling of school funds,’ McCullough confirmed after the investigation.
Darien was arrested at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport on Thursday morning on an outstanding warrant, according to abc13.
Darien was scheduled to fly to Houston when security questioned if he had properly packed his gun for travel, McCullough said.
Athletics director faces series of charges
Darien’s name was run through police records and an warrant which had been signed only the day before showed up, leading to the suspect’s arrest according to police chief McCullough.
The ex-athletics director now faces charges of stalking, disruption of school operations and retaliation against a witness. He is currently being held in custody on $5,000 bond, WBAL-TV reported.
Along with an alleged financial impropriety, Darien had been reprimanded by Eiswert for terminating a coach without the principal’s approval, police said. The athletic director’s contract with the school district was shortly cut short.
It was soon after an alleged recording of Eiswert allegedly spewing racist rhetoric was leaked onto the school campus causing wide disconcert before the offical being placed on paid leave and an investigation launched.
Eiswert has always insisted that recording, which had been sent to Darien and two other teachers the night of Jan. 16, was fake, NBC News reported.
The audio spread quickly on social media and ‘had profound repercussions,’ causing ‘significant disruptions for the PHS staff and students,’ according to the arrest warrant.
The school was inundated with outraged calls and needed an increased police presence and additional counsellors and had led to a heightened challenged environment at school campus along with the community.
According to Eiswert’s biography on the school website, he has worked for Baltimore County Schools since 1997, and before starting at Pikesville was an assistant principal at New Town High School.
