“DIE!” the teacher screamed as she pulled the trigger of her toy water gun, firing at least eight shots at an image of President Donald Trump displayed on a projector screen in front of her class.
Meet Payal Modi, a fine arts teacher at W.H. Adamson High School in Dallas, Texas, who was hired in August 2014 and earns approximately $51,000 a year. She has been placed on administrative leave while the Dallas Independent School District investigates her Inauguration Day stunt.
Someone in the room filmed Modi’s outburst, and Modi reportedly posted the video on Instagram on Jan. 20 with the caption: “payalemmWatching the #inauguration in my classroom like….#no #stop #denial #squirtgun #hypocrisy #powerless #saveusall #teachthembetter #atleastitsfriday.”
While she removed the video, it’s still available on Twitter and below.
[jwplayer kLVWenFC]
Adamson High School assistant principal Bobby Nevels confirmed to PJ Media that the teacher is Modi. He said, “[T]he district is aware of the video but will not comment on personnel issues.”
The Dallas Independent School District considers possession of a toy gun to be a Level I Offense, according to Page 21 of its Student Code of Conduct handbook.
The school district appeared to be deleting comments about the incident from its Facebook page Thursday. The district posted the following message Thursday afternoon:
Today, we were made aware of a social media posting being circulated involving a teacher at W. H. Adamson High School. The teacher has been placed on administrative leave and the district has opened an investigation. This is a personnel matter and, as such, we cannot comment.
Please note, this Facebook page is not a forum to discuss personnel matters such as this. Comments that do so will be removed, and repeat offenders will be banned from the page.
The Secret Service has said it is “aware” of the video, according to The Gateway Pundit.
PJ Media also noted that Modi’s Instagram account calls for “kindness” and “respect” in the wake of Trump’s election and inauguration. Her Instagram account has since been set to private.
She also posted references to the Women’s March on Washington and an image of a pink T-shirt she designed with a reference to “my pu–y.”
“Before Modi shut down her Twitter account, users found this photo of her in the Oval Office recently, a truly disturbing twist considering she appears to want the president dead,” PJ Media reported.
It is unclear whether the photo shows Modi in the actual Oval Office inside the White House or a museum replica of the room, such as the one featured at the George W. Bush Presidential Center near Dallas.
As the story spread, online comments began pouring in on several sites, most calling for the teacher to be fired. They included the following:
- “Secret Service needs to pay her a visit, soon.”
- “I’m tired of Dems being held to lower standards than their Repub counterparts. Fire her yesterday.”
- “I’m certainly going to follow up and see whether or not she is permanently removed from teaching.”
- “Poor excuse for a teacher … she should not have access to our children!”
- “Given that she did this in class, I hope the administration interviews all her students to find out what else she may have done that should be made record. Obviously, she should never teach again, anywhere.”
- “Should be fired immediately. Can you imagine if it was a white teacher and Obama? The person’s life would be ruined by this forever.”
- “If that was a kid and a pop tart shaped like a pistol, they would have been suspended yesterday. Probably cuffed and perp walked.”
- “This excuse for a teacher is planting deadly ideas in the mind of gullible, immature students. This must be stopped!”
- “She needs to be fired and arrested. This woman is crazy. Why would you let her continue to teach students?”
- “A Republican would have already been fired.”
