Texas teacher suspended for tweets on Ferguson shooting

Published November 30, 2015

Texas English teacher Vinita Hegwood is out of a job after tweeting that those who disagreed with her about the racially-charged shooting in Ferguson, Mo., which sparked looting and riots, could kill themselves. (Duncanville Independent School District, AP)

A Dallas-area school district has suspended a teacher over what administrators call "reprehensible" and racially charged tweets about the killing of a black Missouri 18-year-old by a white police officer.

Duncanville Independent School District trustees will meet Friday, and could fire Vinita Hegwood.

Hegwood, who is black, taught English at Duncanville High School prior to the tweets posted Friday with expletives and derogatory references to whites and blacks.

A publicly listed phone number for Hegwood couldn't be found Wednesday.

The school district says Hegwood met with district officials Monday and was suspended without pay pending discharge. In a statement, the district said Hegwood's personal social media account contained "reprehensible personal opinions."

Michael Brown was unarmed when he was killed Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Missouri, leading to ongoing community unrest.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-teacher-suspended-for-tweets-on-ferguson-shooting