Ke’Andre Varner, a Riverdale High School student in Georgia found himself in trouble after posting a mugshot of his principal on the photo sharing social media app, Instagram. As reported by WXIA 11 Alive, the high school senior said he had time to kill in class and after his buddy found a mugshot of their principal, Jamille Miller-Brown, he decided to post it. Ke’Andre’s Instagram shot spread, and when followers asked why she was arrested he chose his words carefully writing, “I thought that she had gotten arrested for DUI instead of me actually putting that she actually got arrested for DUI.” Regardless of how it was worded, Miller-Brown was not arrested for a DUI. Her arrest was for missing a speeding ticket court date.
When the principal found out about the viral photo, she called Ke’Andre and police into her office. The student’s father, Daniel Steverson said, “The principal wanted him arrested for doing that, for putting it on Instagram. But the police officer said, ‘I can’t arrest him for that.’” So Miller-Brown issued a four-day suspension indicating on the suspension letter that he was passing around misinformation.
Ke’Andre and his family felt the punishment was unfair because that week before finals was crucial. The school district defended the punishment pointing to the student handbook that prohibits cell phone use on campus. Varner’s family says that nowhere does the handbook say passing misinformation is prohibited, but eventually principal Miller-Brown agreed to reduce the suspension to two days. Other parents told WSB-TV Chanel 2, that their children were threatened with suspension just for having the mugshot in their phones. But they argue that the photo is on the internet and the principal can’t suspend everyone. In the end, the senior learned a valuable lesson saying, “I know next time not to post anything about other people, unless I have their permission and I really learned a lesson from this.”
