A white Arkansas teacher is allegedly receiving death threats after she reportedly forced a five-year-old Black student named Ashton to clean his feces from a toilet.
In response, Ashton’s community launched a GoFundMe organized by Mark Cannon on behalf of Ashton’s grandmother Tami Murry. The fundraiser asks for donations which will go towards therapy and legal assistance. Supporters have donated over $12,500 to date.
In a March 11 Facebook Live Cannon alleged, without proof, that the accused teacher has been advised to leave town for her own safety after a series of death threats.
Cannon also said the teacher’s husband, a pizza shop business owner, has been forced to shutter his doors due to safety concerns.
“They’ve been forced to shut it down because of all the death threats and the phone calls. And FBI has gotten involved and told her it’s best to go ahead and shut the business down and leave town,” Cannon said.
Cannon said he wanted to make it clear that he never encouraged anyone to evoke violence, he just asked supporters to boycott the business.
The FBI denies that they advised the teacher to leave town.
Ashton and his mom Ashley Murry appeared in a March 9 Facebook Live with Cannon where they discussed the emotional event.
Ashley sounded the alarm last week in an interview with KARK regarding her son’s experience. Murry contends Ashton was traumatized after the March 5 event at Crystal Hill Elementary School in Little Rock, where a teacher instructed him to clean out tissue and feces from a clogged toilet. While the teacher was placed on leave and an investigation was launched by Pulaski County Special School District, frustration and anger remains.
“This child is 5 years old in kindergarten!!! He is a young black male and this was done to degrade him, belittle him, and it will cause him to have anxiety, he keeps telling everyone what happened!!! I am not stopping until this is handled properly!!!” Tami wrote in a March 9 Facebook post.
A report from KATV revealed that Ashton isn’t the only child who was subjected to the treatment. Another Crystal Hill kindergarten parent told the outlet that her daughter was forced to clean a clogged toilet last fall.
“This is a common occurrence at this school it seems,” the mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said. “I told them, ‘I pay my taxes so you can have janitors at the school, not kids unclogging toilets.'”
Correction: We included a correction that the FBI has denied asking the accused teacher to leave town for her safety.
SEE ALSO:
Teacher Who Reportedly Forced 5-Year-Old To Clean Out His Own Feces From Toilet Is Placed On Leave
Texas Community Rallies Around Black Student After Classmates Allegedly Forced Him To Drink Urine
