Boy's Halloween Costume Gets 2 School Officials Suspended
Utah elementary student dressed like Hitler in parade
A student's Halloween costume has gotten his teacher and principal suspended at an elementary school near Salt Lake City, Utah. The reason? The boy dressed up like Hitler— complete with a swastika-adorned brown shirt and fake mustache—and marched in the Halloween parade at Creekside Elementary, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. A mother snapped a photo and put it on social media, where condemnation came quickly for those who allowed the boy to wear the get-up, per the Deseret News. "Ridiculous and distasteful as one could get," the mother wrote. Groups including the United Jewish Federation of Utah agreed, prompting a public apology from the Davis School District, reports ABC4.
The district "apologizes for what took place," says the statement. "It does not tolerate speech, images or conduct that portray or promote hate in any form," and is "taking the matter very seriously." The district did not identify the teacher or principal placed on administrative leave. Another mother says her son told her the boy was directing the Nazi salute at minority students in the school playground after the parade, and she got an odd explanation when she called the school to complain. "It was kind of like excused," she tells Fox13. "I was told that [the school] thought he was Charlie Chaplin. And like, he has a whole swastika on his arm." (A teacher in the same district made headlines for making a student wash Ash Wednesday ashes off his forehead.)
