Tacoma teacher on administrative leave after allegations he’s affiliated with hate group
A teacher whose alleged connections to a white supremacy group were investigated at a previous job and is now working at Tacoma Public Schools has been placed on administrative leave.
“Tacoma Public Schools is aware of community concern that one of our newly hired teachers is a member of a hate group,” the district posted on Twitter Thursday morning. “The District performs background and reference checks before hiring staff & this was the first the District heard about this teacher’s alleged affiliation. Tacoma Public Schools takes these matters very seriously. We have started an investigation, and the employee has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation.”
Xane Fisher, a former English teacher at Graham-Kapowsin High School, was investigated by the Bethel School District in September 2019 after a citizen complaint alleged he participated in the Proud Boys, according to documents obtained by The News Tribune.
The Proud Boys are described as an alt-right hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
At the time, Bethel concluded there were “no overtly racial or otherwise inappropriate statements that warranted further action by the district,” according to a Sept. 5 letter from the human resources department. The district did review its nondiscrimination policy with Fisher, records show.
In an Oct. 8, 2019 response letter following the Bethel investigation, Fisher called the allegations false and claimed antifa, an antifascist group, was responsible for spreading them.
“Someone in that organization has stolen personal data from before I was a Bethel employee, fabricated a narrative, and manipulated the public sector’s due process to harass myself and my family over false accusations they created,” Fisher wrote.
“I’m not involved with any organization that espouses ideologies about supremacy of any kind, promotes hateful activity, or practices any form of intolerance,” he continued.
The News Tribune has been unsuccessful in reaching Fisher as of Thursday morning.
The complaint originally submitted to Bethel shared various social media images and videos of Fisher. In one Facebook picture, Fisher made an “OK” symbol with his hand, a gesture that’s been used to signify “white power.”
Fisher also allegedly appeared in a Twitter thread by a user claiming to leak “induction videos” from a banned Proud Boys Facebook group.
The video appeared to show Fisher saying his name and that he was “a proud western Chauvinist who refuses to apologize for creating the modern world,” a declaration shared by members of the Proud Boys.
The video resurfaced on social media this week.
Fisher drew social media attention on Tuesday after Salish Sea Black Flag, an “antifascist anarchist collective from the PNW,” according to its profile, tweeted that Fisher had been hired by Bethel School District.
The Bethel School District’s official Twitter profile responded to the post Wednesday, stating “Xane Fisher no longer works for the Bethel School District.”
Salish Sea Black Flag then tweeted Fisher had been hired at First Creek Middle School in Tacoma Public Schools and urged people to call the district to “demand his immediate termination.”
Tacoma Public Schools spokesperson Dan Voelpel did not confirm whether that investigation involves Fisher, but confirmed Fisher worked for the district. Fisher began working on June 17 with the district as an onboard employee, with a start date of Sept. 1 and a salary of $68,756, according to a public records request by The News Tribune.
On Thursday morning, Bethel School District spokesperson Doug Boyles told The News Tribune that Fisher left the district on his own at the end of the school year.
Community groups spoke out on social media on the issue.
“Proud boy Xane Fisher got ousted from teaching at one school, so they sent him to Tacoma. Call and email TPS and let them know we won’t let fascists near our kids! First Creek Middle School is 83% students of color,” Tacoma Mutual Aid Collective, a grassroots group that generates resources for the community, posted on Facebook.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 11:25 AM.
