Suspect in Killing of Protesters Listed in ‘Hero’ Assignment

September 17, 2020

DALLAS (AP) — A Dallas school district is investigating a high school English teacher who asked students to write about a modern-day hero and listed the 17-year-old accused of killing two people during Wisconsin protests as one possible option.

Kyle Rittenhouse has been accused of fatally shooting two people and wounding another in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The writing assignment also listed Joseph Rosenbaum, one of the protesters Rittenhouse is accused of killing; along with Mahatma Gandhi, César Chávez, Malcolm X and George Floyd. The teacher misspelled Gandhi and Malcolm X.

The Dallas Independent School District did not release the name of the W. T. White High School teacher who assigned the report.

The teacher whose name was listed on the assignment did not immediately return KTVT-TV’s request for comment.

In a statement, the district said: “An unapproved assignment posted in Google Classroom yesterday has been brought to our attention. Understandably, this caused some concern for the impacted students, and we apologize. Campus administration immediately removed the unapproved content and students are not required to complete that assignment. Due to personnel policies, we are not able to comment further, however, the appropriate steps are being followed pending investigation.”