On May 25, a Minnesota man named George Floyd died in police custody during a harrowing incident that was captured on video and shared on social media. The video showed a Minneapolis policeman identified as Derek Chauvin putting his knee on the rear of Floyd’s head and neck during the arrest. Floyd pleaded with him to prevent as he couldn’t breathe, and he eventually went silent as people begged Chauvin and therefore the other three officers present to see on him. a brief time after, Floyd was pronounced dead.
People have taken to social media to precise shock and outrage at the police actions, and vigils within the streets became protests. Dave Hollenbeck had a special message to share, however, and posted a photograph to Facebook of himself on the bottom with a knee within the back of his neck, smiling and showing the camera a thumbs up. He added the caption: “This is for all the race baiters and other people that don’t What they’re talking about when they’re saying that this might kill you.”
He then shared the image again with the caption: “Not dead yet I’m doing this for [our] cops the media may be a race baiting machine and I’m uninterested in it I’m getting to speak out whenever if you don’t like that I’m sorry but i really like All people.. awaken America.”
The Facebook post is not any longer available, but a screenshot of it’s available on reporter Michael Spears’ Twitter account:
In the video, he says: “I didn’t tell any lies. I showed that i used to be okay from a knee on my neck. that’s it. I didn’t say anything racist, it maybe was insensitive at the time and that i didn’t think that far ahead as in to where this was gonna go. I just knew that something needed to be said. The media was pushing an agenda.”
The highschool Where Hollenbeck Worked Is Investigating the Post
Hollenbeck’s Twitter account indicates that he’s employed as a wrestling coach at Bethel highschool in Spanaway, Washington, just south of Seattle. many of us contacted the varsity to allow them to realize the existence of the Facebook post. Doug Boyles, a Bethel administrative district spokesperson, told KIRO 7 in an email: “We are investigating the post. Dave Hollenbeck isn’t an educator . This was his first year as a wrestling coach at Bethel highschool . As wrestling season is over, he’s not working for us immediately .”
The Bethel administrative district also sent out an email to the whole district, consistent with Facebook posts. the e-mail states that the post “was made on a private Facebook page and therefore the district is currently investigating.” It doesn’t name Hollenbeck, but says the district “takes issues like this very seriously.” the e-mail also linked to the varsity district’s social media policy for workers .
Here’s a screenshot of the email:
Hollenbeck Came under attack on Social Media for His Facebook Post
Many people took to social media to share screenshots of the Facebook post and express their outrage. a number of the posts also tagged the Bethel administrative district or its superintendent, Tom Seigel. One post reads: “[Tom Seigel] adieu , sir. Are you aware that one among your employees, Dave Hollenbeck, may be a racist who mocks victims of police brutality? A vile person like this has no business teaching children a day .”
Another post said, “Hey [WWE] apparently you had this guy Dave Hollenbeck work for you guys for [WWE 205]. I hope you guys have the morals to never let him work for you again. which goes dub for you [Impact Wrestling, AE Wrestling, Ring of Honor].”
One person wrote: “If i used to be a parent of 1 of his students i might pull my child out of his class immediately. Dave Hollenbeck shouldn’t be teaching wrestling if he doesn’t know that a knee within the neck will kill someone. the varsity must sack him now and he should never be allowed to show .”