OMAHA: Some Omaha high school students could face discipline for reenacting inside the school building the arrest and killing of George Floyd and then posting a photo of it to social media.
Westside Communities School District spokeswoman Brandi Paul called the image “incredibly hurtful." She told the Omaha World-Herald she could not speak on specific student discipline cases but said the district has policies in place to deal with disruptive behavior.
“Bottom line, if it disrupts that learning environment, there are consequences to those actions,” Paul said.
The picture of the reenactment shows a Westside High School student kneeling on the neck of another student — mimicking the May 25 killing of Floyd. Floyd, who was Black, died after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly 10 minutes. Chauvin was convicted earlier this month of murder and manslaughter charges in Floyd’s death.
The students shared the photo in a group Snapchat, and it was then shared beyond that private group, officials said. Administrators arriving at school Wednesday were notified by students about the posting, and the district also received emails about it, Paul said. That prompted district officials to send an email to parents informing them of the matter and calling the students' actions unacceptable.
School officials questioned the students involved, who indicated they were willing participants in the photo and that no one was hurt. The students told officials they were reenacting the Floyd killing based on something they saw online but that they had no ill intent.