US teacher accused of racist deepfake of principal
By Rachel Looker
A Maryland high school teacher has been arrested for allegedly using AI to deepfake a bogus recording of his principal making racist comments.
Dazhon Darien, 31, is accused of creating the hoax audio of Pikesville High School Principal Eric Eiswert.
Mr Eiswert was placed on leave and had police outside his home amid death threats he received over the fake clip.
Mr Darien was held at an airport after a security check over a gun in his bag found an arrest warrant against him.
He faces charges of stalking, theft, disruption of school operations and retaliation against a witness.
Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Myriam Rogers said the school, as well as the Baltimore County Police Department, launched an investigation on 17 January when they were first made aware of the voice recording.
Detectives requested a forensic analysis of the audio, which found it was not authentic.
In the recording, Mr Eiswert’s deepfaked voice is heard making disparaging comments about black students’ test scores, black teachers and Jews.
