A Baltimore suburb high school athletic director allegedly used artificial intelligence to impersonate his principal spouting racist and antisemitic hate as part of a demented revenge scheme.
Dazhon Darien, 31, was arrested Thursday while trying to hop on a plane to Houston.
“From the very beginning, we have expressed our concern about the disturbing audio that shook our communities here in Baltimore County. That’s because those words go against everything we stand for,” County Executive Johnny Olszewski said at a press conference.
“Hate has no place and no home in Baltimore County. Nor should it have any place across our state or here in our country,”
The bizarre saga started in January, when disturbing audio of what sounded like Pikesville High School Principal Eric Eiswert slamming students of color during a phony conversation with one of the school’s assistant principals made rounds on social media.
In the clip, the mimicked voice of Eiswert said African American students were unable to “test their way out of a paper bag” and that there were two Jewish teachers who “should never have been hired at the school,” according to charging documents obtained by 2 WMAR.
As punishment, Eiswert was temporarily removed from the school — but he declared his innocence and told police he believed the audio clip was falsified using AI.
He even pointed to Darien as the culprit, telling officials he was “technologically savvy.”
Even more damning, there were conversations about not renewing Darien’s contract for the following semester following multiple work-related issues since beginning his role as athletic director in July 2023, including firing a long-standing coach at the school without approval and paying his roommate as an assistant coach despite not working for any teams.
“Through their investigation, detectives alleged Mr. Darien who was the athletic director at the high school made the recording to retaliate against the principal who had launched an investigation into the potential mishandling of school funds,” Chief of Police Robert McCollough said.
The FBI and an expert from the University of California, Berkley ultimately tied Darien to the simulated audio to an email account under the alias TJ Foust, which he allegedly used to send the phony recording to his own work email and other teachers at the school.
During an interview with detectives, Darien allegedly admitted to “having issues” with Eiswert throughout his short tenure at the school.
He was arrested Friday at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport when authorities were alerted to an improperly stored firearm in his bag, officials said.
When they performed a background check, they discovered the warrant out for his arrest that Baltimore County officials had filed the night before.
Whether he was trying to flee to Texas or making an unrelated trip is still unknown, according to investigators.
He was charged with several charges including theft, stalking, disruption of school operations and retaliation against a witness. He was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.
Baltimore County Schools have since put forth a recommendation for his employment termination, and is expected to bring back Principal Eiswert now that his name has been cleared.