Posted on 01/27/25
| News Source: WBAL TV
Baltimore, MD - Jan. 27, 2025 - Federal agents arrested Pikesville High School's former athletic director Monday morning at Baltimore County Circuit Court.
Dazhon Darien was taken into custody before a court hearing, 11 News reporter Barry Simms reports.
This breaking report will be updated.
This comes after Eric Eiswert, the school's former principal, is suing Darien, the Baltimore County Board of Education and the school district almost a year after Eiswert's voice was allegedly used in an AI-generated audio clip containing a litany of hate speech.
According to court records obtained on Jan. 9 by 11 News, Eiswert accuses Darien of conspiring with other district employees to spread the recording.
| DOCUMENT: Read the legal complaint (PDF)
"Unbeknownst to Mr. Eiswert and others, upon information and belief, Darien used this position of trust, as well as access to school resources, to record Mr. Eiswert's voice. Darien then took these recordings, cut edited, created and assembled the pieces together using artificial intelligence and computer tools. The result was a fabricated audio clip, defamatory on its faces, falsely purporting to expose Mr. Eiswert as a racist and antisemite," the lawsuit states in part.
Darien was arrested in April on multiple criminal charges that include stalking, theft, disruption of school operations and retaliation against a witness. The case is expected to go before a jury later this month.
The lawsuit further states that the district and its superintendent removed Eiswert as the school's principal and "refused to correct the record and act in accordance with the information they knew to be true."
"BCPS arbitrarily and, with deliberate indifference, punished Mr. Eiswert over allegations that were quickly proven false and continue to punish him to this day," the lawsuit states in part.
The law firm representing Eiswert sent a statement Thursday morning to 11 News, saying: "On Tuesday, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of our client, Eric Eiswert, against Baltimore County Public Schools ("BCPS") and others, to address what we allege are systemic failures to properly vet and supervise employees — failures that have put the safety of staff and students, and the integrity of our schools, at risk. As further alleged in our complaint, BCPS's failure to follow its own hiring and oversight processes caused significant damage to Mr. Eiswert, and its lack of response to the defamatory audio encouraged the continuing harm. Mr. Eiswert has spent his career as a dedicated educator and is hopeful that this lawsuit will drive meaningful change in protecting students, teachers and administrators."
A BCPS spokesman told 11 News the district is not commenting on the lawsuit.