A former high school athletic director at a Baltimore high school was arrested Thursday after allegedly using AI to incriminate the school’s principal with racist and antisemitic comments.

CBS News reported that a 31-year-old black man, Dhazon Darien, formerly of Pikesville High School, is facing a plethora of charges, including stalking, theft, disruption of school operations and retaliation against a witness.

According to investigators, Darien faked the voice of principal Eric Eiswert, a White man, in clips that circulated on social media at the beginning of the year. Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office concluded the imposter to be Darien based upon the mentioning of his nickname DJ in the audio file.

Police and AI experts believe the audio clip was simulated, which included antagonistic remarks towards black students and the neighboring Jewish community, reported CBS News. Darien attempted to flee via a flight to Houston but was arrested before boarding. At the time, he was carrying a firearm.

CBS News elaborated on the “race-based commentary,” saying Darien mimicked the principal into making charging statements about black students not being able to “test their way out of a paper bag.” The former high school athletic director also included statements about Jews who “should never have been hired at the school.” It was allegedly depicted as a conversation between Eiswert and one of the assistant principals. The clip ultimately went viral on social media platforms, resulting in parents responding and Eiswert being put on temporary leave.

According to the charging documents, Eiswert told police he thought the audio was AI fabricated and Darien was responsible. CBS News stated Darien was “technologically savvy,” and Eiswert “believed he was familiar with AI.” He also mentioned that Darien’s contract was not to be renewed due to performance issues and misuse of school funds.

Police claimed Darien had access to the school’s network and was looking for OpenAI tools. Police found a paid OpenAI account under his name. The FBI analyzed the clips and found them to contain AI-generated content, according to the charging documents. Experts from two universities, including UC Berkley, concluded the same — AI manipulation.

Eric Eiswert was my social studies teacher and then the SGA Advisor at Catonsville High School and I am in no way surprised by his comments in this recording.

He should be fired immediately and his Maryland teaching and administrator licenses should be permanently revoked. https://t.co/NiVSd8GgiU

— deray (@deray) January 17, 2024

Many fell for the hoax, including Black Lives Matter activist Deray McKesson, who said on X that Eiswert should be fired immediately and lose his administrator licenses.

Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers told CBS News, “We are incredibly proud of the students and staff and how they stepped up to support one another … This has been a very difficult time for Pikesville High School community, principal Eiswert and his family, and team BCPS.” She agreed with the arrest of Darien and recommended termination.

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Darien was ultimately released on $5,000 bond. Baltimore County’s State Attorney Scott Shellenberger told the Post Millennial that this case was a first-of-its-kind and that things have changed to the point where we must “take a broader look at how this technology can be used and abused to harm other people.”

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Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) is implementing the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in an effort to curb the Golden State’s surging organized retail theft problem.

On November 22, he announced the operation as being a part of his 2021 “Real Public Safety Plan,” according to the release. 

CHP will increase its “presence in key retail districts across California.” At the same time, its specialized unit, the Organized Retail Crime Task Force (ORCTF), will provide additional “enforcement efforts through proactive and confidential law enforcement operations with allied agencies.”

Newsom’s anti-retail crime initiative is said to be a means of cracking down during the holiday season as retail crime throughout the state continues to climb, prompting merchants to close down or relocate.

Target announced last September that it would be closing three stores due to the theft problem, according to CBS News. Its CEO, Brian Cornell, said the company is expected to lose more than $500 million more than last year, which was estimated to be between $700 and $800 million, making these new losses up to $1.2 billion.

CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee stated during the Zoom presser:

Organized retail crime remains an issue … From brazen smash-and-grabs to sophisticated theft rings, and organized retail crime … Working together with our partners and utilizing the CHP’s extensive statewide resources, we are cracking down and stopping unacceptable criminal activity.

The National Retail Federation noted in its latest security survey of about 177 retailers that it averaged a rate of “shrink” of 1.6% last year or $112.1 billion in losses, reported CBS News. The NRF prefaced that 65% of the shrink was due to external theft, including organized crime incidents.

CHP’s ORCTF regional teams in Southern California, the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento will now be working together in this operation, according to the report. Since 2019, CHP has had 2,200 investigations, totaling more than $33 million in stolen retail merchandise.

In the briefing, Los Angeles County Assistant Sheriff Holly Francisco said the new task force will concentrate on large outlet malls while utilizing a visual presence, “where you’re going to see uniforms, walking in and around those areas,” adding that surveillance and undercover personnel will also be present.

The Highway Patrol’s role is just one part of what they call “Operation Smash and Grab,” a $267 million investment to 55 cities and counties to increase arrests and prosecutions relating to retail crime.

In addition, the sheriff will be sending as many as 70 deputies and detectives, typically assigned to violent crimes, to focus on retail theft until the end of the holiday, reported ABC7 News.

Still, others in law enforcement, including Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper, don’t believe that this is at all enough to combat the organized retail crime problem.

“It really started with the change in the law in 2014 with Prop 47,” Cooper told Fox News. “The voters were duped into voting for that. It was called the ‘Safe Streets and Schools Act.’” 

Proposition 47 reduced many non-violent crimes to misdemeanors, including shoplifting under $950. It is widely believed to be a core cause of California’s organized retail theft problem.

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In 2020, Proposition 20 was on the ballot to reform the original law, increasing the penalties for serial thefts and organized retail crime; however, it received a mere 38% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia.

Calmatters.org states that Newsom voted against Prop 20, along with the progressive nonprofit ACLU and the California Teachers Association; meanwhile, the proponent was, unsurprisingly, the California Retailers Association.

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Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the 2020 death of George Flyod, is appealing his federal civil rights conviction, arguing that new evidence shows he did not cause Floyd’s death.

Former Minneapolis police officer and now 47-year-old federal inmate, Derek Chauvin is filing an appeal for a new trial or a hearing to allow him to present the newly discovered evidence, reported Fox News.

Chauvin filed the motion in federal court on Monday, stating he would never have pleaded guilty if he had known the theories of a Topeka, Kansas, pathologist, Dr. William Schaetzel, whom he met in February. 

The request asks the presiding judge to dismiss the civil rights conviction and mandate a new trial or, at the very minimum, allow for an evidentiary hearing. He filed the request without an attorney.

Fox News reported that the records indicate Chauvin said Dr. Schaetzel believes George Floyd died from issues stemming from a rare tumor. The Cleveland Clinic cites this neuroendocrine tumor as a paraganglioma, which can stimulate a fatal amount of adrenaline. It can form near the carotid artery and along nerve pathways in the neck and head. 

It may sound like a credible theory; however, the pathologist did not review Floyd’s body or autopsy reports.

Dr. Schaetzel told The Associated Press, “I can’t go to my grave with what I know. … I just want the truth.”

The Kansas local ABC affiliate reported Chauvin alleges Shaetzel contacted his trial attorney, Eric Nelson, presiding judge and prosecution in his state-court murder trial. He said Nelson never disclosed the pathologist or his ideas, alleging his attorney failed to challenge the constitutionality of the federal charge. 

Based on Dr. Shaetzel’s findings, Chauvin believes “No reasonable juror would have convicted,” according to the filing. The former Minneapolis police officer may be too optimistic, as the autopsy performed by Dr. Andrew Baker in 2021 was widely portrayed as police brutality, downplaying drug use or heart disease.

The response to Floyd’s death was treated in a similar manner, too. The Guardian accurately reported the 25 deaths from the Black Lives Matter 2020 riots but skews the descriptors of the victims. Other outlets straight up dismissed or attempted to “debunk” the $2 billion in damages from the unrest.

Chauvin, with the condemnation of the media and the establishment, pleaded guilty to the federal charge in December 2021 and, in doing so, waived his rights to appeal except on the basis of ineffective counsel.

The federal court of appeals has already rejected two requests from Chauvin for a rehearing. He also submitted an appeal to the US Supreme Court on the state court murder conviction.

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Derek Chauvin is currently serving a 21-year sentence in an Arizona federal prison.

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