Who is Susan McCoy? Georgia high school teacher blames Breonna Taylor for her own death as students correct her
A high school teacher in Georgia has come under fire for alleging during an online class that Breonna Taylor's death was her own fault as she hung out "with people with guns that shoot at cops". Susan McCoy, a forensics and environmental science teacher at Pebblebrook High School in Mableton, Cobb County, was taking a class via Zoom on Friday, February 26, when she made the controversial statements -- confusing the facts of the case -- to her students. McCoy then moved on from the conversation when some students corrected her.
A video of McCoy's statements were posted to Instagram by a student, who captioned the post, "Pebblebrooks teacher Ms.McCoy the inappropriate things that happen here it was out of her place to speak of something she knows nothing about she ain’t never walked a foot in our shoes this was so disrespectful and I want to share it with you guys @proudpebblebrookprincipal #SAYHERNAME #breonnataylor." In the video, McCoy says, "I'm sorry she was killed, but you know when you hang out with people with guns that shoot at cops, you're likely to get caught in the crossfire."
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She later added, "What's her name — Breonna something — the one that was killed in the gunfire from the cops," saying that Taylor "put herself in that position hanging out with someone she shouldn’t have been with." When a student said that Taylor was with her boyfriend and asked McCoy to clarify, the teacher falsely claimed, "She was with her boyfriend who was a criminal."
Another student then says, "That was her ex-boyfriend. They came to the wrong house." The same student later added during the exchange, "The right guy was in custody, earlier that day." McCoy then said, "Yeah, ok. Like I said, I'm sorry she's dead but they actually have proof that he fired at them first."
As McCoy's student said, she was conflating Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker -- who had no criminal record and was a licensed gun owner -- with her ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, who was already in custody when police executed a no-knock warrant claiming that the postal service confirmed the delivery of drugs to Taylor's home in Glover's name, a claim that a postal inspector later denied.
McCoy later posted an apology video later on Friday, in which she described her comments as ignorant and that she was "heartbroken" that she said "something so rude and disrespectful." She said, "I should never have talked about something that I didn't understand and I truly, truly apologize and ask for forgiveness and hope that someday I can have that trust back with my students that I know that I lost."
Update: teacher Susan McCoy has sent out an apology video for her offensive and racist comments about Breonna Taylor made during a class zoom session. pic.twitter.com/Y6nfth14C2
— David Dennis Jr. (@DavidDTSS) February 27, 2021
Cobb County school board member Leroy "Tre" Hutchins told WSB-TV on the incident, "It was Black History Month. We were appreciating and honoring Breonna Taylor and her life. We were saying her name, and as a result of that this happened and I think it’s unfortunate.”
In a letter to parents, Pebblebrook High School principal, Dr Dana Giles said that the district is aware of their concern over the incident, writing, "I am confident this situation will be investigated, and any appropriate district policy will be applied." Giles added, "We will show empathy and support for each other, respectfully, as long as I’m the principal of Pebblebrook High School.”
Hutchins also told the outlet that Giles and the students handled the conversation respectfully, saying, "The fact that they were able to be respectful, and still state fact -- or as much fact as they knew -- and say that ‘what you’re saying is not quite accurate’ and challenge it in a way that was respectful made me proud."