W.V. teacher suspended for anti-Muslim, anti-Obama tweets
By Meg Wagner
Daily News
A West Virginia high school teacher has been suspended for her racist Twitter history filled with anti-Muslim rants and attacks on the president, including one post that insisted that the suspects accused of torturing a mentally disabled teen could be “Obama’s children.”
Mary Durstein, a social studies teacher at Huntington High School, was put on paid leave Monday, the Herald-Dispatch reported.
Cabell County School officials said several students flagged the teacher’s Twitter rants — which go back to 2015 — over the weekend. The messages included support for a mass deportation of Muslims, condemnation of the Black Lives Matter movement and several attacks on President Obama.
“The tweets that you have seen — those are things that we do not adhere to,” Cabell County Superintendent Bill Smith told the newspaper. “We believe that all children are welcome here — all adults as well — in Cabell County schools.”
One tweet included a photo of Obama during a May meeting with Japanese leaders, in which he expressed his sympathies for the U.S.’s World War II bombings.
The image erroneously claimed Obama was “apologizing” — he offered no apology, just condolences, during the visit — and then featured a photo of the USS Arizona Memorial, which sits over the war grave of those killed on the ship during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“This is where you belong you Muslim douchebag,” the second photo of the grave read.
Another anti-Obama rant, Durstein responded to another Twitter user discussing the four black Illinois suspects charged with hate crimes for kidnapping and torturing a white teenager with special needs. Police have repeatedly said the teen was targeted for his disability, not for his race.
“Can you imagine how many riots we would have around the country if the terrorists were white?” the other Twitter user wrote, alongside the mugshots of the four suspects.
“This could have been Obama’s children,” Durstein responded.
The teacher also frequently posted anti-Muslim sentiments
“Who cares if we offend Muslims at least they keep their heads on tact,” she tweeted in 2015. “They’re the enemy!”
Durstein deleted her Twitter account Monday, school officials said.
School officials plan to meet with Durstein about the tweets, although it’s unclear what possible actions could come from the meeting. School district staffers are investigating to see if the teacher violated any county policies.
