A former substitute teacher who was banned from teaching in a Minnesota school district after being accused of reenacting George Floyd’s murder in class last month has lost his job as a police officer in western Wisconsin, the city’s mayor announced Monday.
Prescott Mayor Robert Daugherty told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the City Council signed a separation agreement with Steven Dwight Williams, 48, on Monday and accepted his resignation, effective Friday, in lieu of firing.
Students informed Principal Sarah Sorenson-Wagner that Williams, who was teaching at Woodbury High School for the first time on October 14, wanted students to learn about his life as a police officer. According to the district, he placed a student on the ground as part of a reenactment of the Minneapolis police operations that resulted in Floyd’s murder in May 2020.
Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, which contributed to his death. Chauvin and three other Minneapolis police officers were convicted and sentenced to jail in connection with Floyd’s killing.
In addition, Williams simulated holding a pistol and aiming it at pupils, asserted that police violence is not real, delivered sexist jokes, and participated in “inappropriate and racially harmful behavior” during English sessions for sophomores and seniors, according to a letter Sorenson-Wagner issued to parents.
According to the statement, Williams has been in law enforcement for many years in his home state of Wisconsin and Montana, and had been with the Prescott Police Department for nearly two years now. Following the allegations, he was promptly placed on administrative leave from the Prescott police force.
According to state records, Williams received a three-year, short-term substitute teaching certification for all grades in March of this year. Following Williams’ alleged actions at Woodbury High School, a report was filed with the Minnesota Department of Education. As of Friday, public records show that the department had made no disciplinary findings against him.