A HIGH school school wrestling coach was reportedly fired because he reenacted George Floyd’s brutal arrest in a Facebook post.
Dave Hollenbeck, 44, a first-year coach at Bethel High School in Spanaway, Washington, shared a smiling photo of himself with a knee to the back of his neck – just days after Floyd‘s brutal death.
His stance mimicked the widely circulated of Floyd, 46, who died on Monday after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, sparking nationwide outrage.
“Not dead yet I’m doing this for … police officers the media is a race baiting machine and I’m tired of it,” Hollenbeck captioned the controversial post.
“I’m going to speak out every time if you don’t like that I’m sorry but I love All people.. Wake up America.”
Screenshots of Hollenbeck’s post spread all over social media and he admitted he posted the picture, according to NBC News.
School spokesperson Douglas Boyles told NBC News Hollenbeck has been fired.
“His behavior was not consistent with our equity initiatives and nondiscrimination policies,” their statement said.
Hollenbeck insisted that his post wasn’t racist and he was defending cops.
“I know how hard it is for them to do their job safely,” he said. “That’s what made me post that.
“I don’t have all the facts … I don’t know if anybody does.”
An experienced wrestler with a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Hollenbeck said he wanted to prove Chauvin’s technique – “a knee on the back of the neck” – could not have killed Floyd.
“That was never my intent to be racist in any way,” Hollenbeck explained. “I was sticking up for the cops that the technique is sound if done correct.”
Hollenbeck went to say that he trained multiple people on how to control people without striking them and event provided security for 2012 presidential candidate.
Since he was fired, the coach repeatedly denied he was a racist in series of videos on Facebook.
In one of them, he raged: “I got fired from two jobs today and I lost my academy but I feel the freest that I have ever been.
“And that’s because I don’t answer to anyone anymore. I answer to me.”
He said a previous employer said they would expose a Nazi wrestling character he played if he didn’t leave his post.
“My tattoos are not Nazis. I am not that … “I am a big people lover.”
Hollenback disagreed with the way he was portrayed in various interviews and said he didn’t agree with the consensus “that technique killed a man.”
“I’m thinking of ways to prove that in an entertaining way,” he said. “Because things are going to change.”
Floyd’s death has sparked widespread outrage, rioting, protests, and condemnation in various states after he was killed in Minnesota earlier this week.
His family and girlfriend,Courteney Ross, have pleaded with demonstrators to protest peacefully to honor his memory after three days of violence and looting.
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According to the criminal complaint filed against Chauvin on Friday, Floyd’s initial autopsy revealed nothing to support strangulation as the cause of death.
The exam concluded that the combined effects of being restrained, potential intoxicants in Floyds system and his underlying health issues, including heart disease, likely contributed to his death, according to the complaint.
Earlier today, Hennepin County Medical Examiner said coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease combined with the harsh police restraint, killed him, WTVO reported.
