Texas: Indian-origin teacher suspended after mock Trump assassination video goes viral

An Indian-origin art teacher was suspended in Texas, US after a video of her firing a water gun at an image of President Donald Trump went viral. 

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In the eight-second video, Payal Modi, an art teacher at Adamson High School in Dallas, Texas shoots a squirt gun at a video of Trump during the inauguration ceremony that was projected on a whiteboard and screams "die." 

Students at the school dismissed the incident as a joke, even though Modi was suspended. 

"Although her actions didn't display that she was a good role model, she's always there and supports my classmates, my peers," Briana Castillo, a senior at the school, was quoted as saying.

Another student Leslie Jaimes said she was in Modi's second-period class when the teacher pulled out a squirt gun she had taken earlier from a student. "Trump came out and she shot at him, but like, it was just a water gun," Jaimes said. "It's no big deal." 

The video was watched tens of thousands of times since it was posted on Instagram on Wednesday, following which officials at the Dallas Independent School District opened an investigation. Modi was sent on administrative leave meanwhile. 

"Today, we were made aware of a social media posting being circulated involving a teacher at W H Adamson High School. The teacher has been placed on administrative leave and the district has opened an investigation. This is a personnel matter and, as such, we cannot comment," the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) statement said.