Probed over tweets, teacher now linked to blog
TORONTO • A high school teacher being investigated over a Twitter account that discusses alleged Islamophobic beliefs is also being connected to a blog post that considers imposing atheist beliefs on students.
A now-deleted Twitter account with the handle @firstatheist used a photo former students say appears to be of Michael Marshall, an English teacher at Richmond Green Secondary School in Richmond Hill.
The York Region District School Board said it was made aware of the Twitter account Thursday and Marshall was told about its investigation.
The board said it is looking into whether the account may have been hacked or is an impersonation.
“There have been cases in the past where some of our employees have been impersonated,” said Licinio Miguelo, a board spokesperson. “We take these allegations very seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation.”
Christina Choo-Hum, a board spokeswoman, said she was aware of the blog, in which the writer discusses using specific afterschool programs to sway students toward atheism.
Marshall did not respond to several interview requests by email and phone.
The @firstatheist Twitter account often objected to hijabs, Shariah law and prayer. One of the tweets mentioned students and said, “I get sad when girls I teach decide to wear a hijab. I feel like a failure.” In another, the account wrote in response to Muslims praying during work hours: “Pray on your own time. Like pooping. Do it in private and wash your hands after.” Another tweet read: “Decided that I am way too racist to be a teacher.”
The account also tweeted about hatred for radical Muslims. “Just watched a segment on 60 min about radicalized #muslims in the UK. I’ve never felt such instant hate for a group of people. #Islamophobia,” the tweet read.
The @firstatheist Twitter account’s biography at one point linked to a blog titled “Emancipation,” which purports to be written by someone named Michael, who de- scribes himself as a teacher, atheist and freethinker. An Aug. 24, 2014, post mentions specific afterschool programs that students say Marshall supervised, including a gaystraight alliance club.
The writer of one post says he or she wants to start using the freethinking group to impose atheism on the students.
“I think I need to start veering it in a new direction; nudging it, pushing it away from the safe banks of the river and over the waterfall of atheism,” it read. The writer also describes difficulties in “coming out” as an atheist, saying he or she would “sooner be publicly gay than come out as an atheist,” but promises to begin making moves at the end of the post.
“It’s time. I’m moving forward. I will dismantle the hopeless, evil edifice of organized religion and smile at the remains.”
Nasim Asgari, 17, graduated this year from Richmond Green Secondary, where she said a significant portion of the students have Muslim backgrounds. Asgari, a practising Muslim, found the tweets last Wednesday.
Marshall supervised an after-school, spoken-word poetry program Asgari took part in, and told her he had a second Twitter account where he argued with people about religion and political issues.
Marshall’s primary Twitter account, @marshallisaboss, which was frequently used to communicate with students and post school news, also retweets news stories dealing with Muslim issues.
Asgari also said Marshall made it clear he wasn’t a fan of any religion, but spoke most about Islam.
“It was one conversation that I clearly recall and he was like, ‘ Yeah, I’m going back and forth with extreme Muslims,’ ” she said. “He would say stuff to me that if I did not think of him as someone I trusted, it could have come out as offensive.”
Melody Mahjoobi, 18, also graduated from Richmond Green this year. She took a screenshot of an October 2014 post that was accompanied by a “selfie” of a man she said appears to be Marshall and said, “Just a regular atheist on his way to work to educate the children.”