Baltimore County police arrested and charged a former high school athletic director Thursday on charges of using artificial intelligence to simulate a school principal making racist and antisemitic comments, according to a report.
Pikesville High School ex-employee Dazhon Darien, 31, was taken into custody on charges of disrupting school activities, retaliation and stalking after police said he created a phony audio clip in January of Principal Eric Eiswert disparaging “ungrateful Black kids” and Jewish community members, according to the Baltimore Banner.
Authorities said an FBI analysis determined the recording wasn’t authentic, or what is commonly referred to as a “deepfake.” A separate analysis by the University of California, Berkeley, supported the FBI’s finding, police said.
Charging documents said Mr. Darien used the school’s network in December and January to look up AI language programs that could manufacture conversations.
Investigators also tied Mr. Darien to an email account that disseminated the fake recording that was supposedly a backroom conversation between Mr. Eiswert and other staff members.
The audio set off a firestorm once the clip hit social media.
“Between these ungrateful Black kids who can’t test their way out of a paper bag and these teachers who don’t get it, how hard is it to get these students to meet their grade level expectations?” the voice on the recording said.
The same voice also said he was going to confront DJ — which is what Mr. Darien goes by — and “drag his Black ass out of here.”
“If I have to get one more complaint from one more Jew in this community, I’m going to join the other side,” the voice said on the recording.
Mr. Eiswert, who denied he ever said what was on the recording, hasn’t been working while the Baltimore County Public Schools and county police looked into the audio.
Audio experts previously told The Banner that the recording had telltale signs of being AI-produced — such as the lack of pauses for breathing, flat tone and few background noises.
Police said Thursday that Mr. Darien created the recording as a way of retaliating against Mr Eiswert and his investigation into possible mishandling of school funds.
Mr. Darien was arrested at the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Thursday.
He was released on a $5,000 bond after his initial court appearance later that same day.