A former high school athletic director in Maryland has been arrested and accused of using AI to generate a racist tirade by the school principal who was allegedly investigating him for mishandling school funds.

The audio clip was sent to media and students in January and spread wildly, leading to the temporary removal of Principal Eric Eiswert from his post at Pikeville High School as well as multiple angry social media messages and calls to the school, WBAL reported.

Baltimore County Police announced the arrest on Thursday of Dazhon Darien, 31, who has been charged with multiple counts, including stalking, theft, disruption of school operations, and retaliation against a witness.

Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said Darien was taken into custody at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, where he was boarding a flight to Houston. McCullough said Maryland Transit Authority police had detained him because of how he had packaged a gun for transport and found the warrant for his arrest. McCullough didn’t know if Darien was trying to flee.

McCullough said separate forensic analyses of the recording made by the FBI and experts at the University of California-Berkeley came to the same conclusion that the recording was AI generated.

A charging documents says Eiswert told investigators the day after the audio clip went viral that be believed Darien was behind it. He said Darien was under investigation for issues that including firing a coach without approval and having the school’s payroll system pay his roommate for a position he did not hold, the Baltimore Banner reported. Those payments are currently the subject of an internal audit. Eiswert also said that Darien was tech-savvy and familiar with AI tools.

The document says that Darien used the school’s network to search for AI tools, WBAL said. He initially denied any involvement with the audio clip, but further investigation connected found that the email address that first sent the clip was connected to his grandmother’s home in Los Angeles. That email address uses Darien’s cell phone as a recovery number.

Investigators also said they were investigating the involvement of other people in the dissemination of the audio clip, which was first sent to a friend group of three teachers, one of whom was Darien, the Banner said. One of those teachers told investigators she sent it to media outlets and students she knew would spread it.

The other two teachers have not been charged with a crime, but one of them, and Darien, have submitted their resignations, effective June 30.

Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Myriam Rogers said the district was “exploring administrative changes given the immense impact of this incident on the Pikesville High School community and the local, national and international coverage” and had recommended that Darien be fired, WBAL reported. She did not comment on the other two teachers involved.

“As you can imagine, this has been a very difficult time for Pikesville High School community, Principal Eiswert and his family and team BCPS,” she said.

According to Rogers, Eiswert will not return to Pikesville during this school year, and the district will work with him to determine his duties next year, the Banner said.

The incident caused a major disruption, said Rogers. In a letter to the community, she said the district was “moving forward and providing all parties with a fresh start,” according to WBAL. The district will be providing support staff to work with students and staff.

Meanwhile, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberg noted that the case is one of the first nationwide to involved AI-generated false recordings. He said that the state’s general assembly may need to consider updating laws since the disrupting school activities charge “only carries a six-month sentence.”

“But we also need to take a broader look at how this technology can be used and abused to harm other people,” he said.

Darien appeared in court Thursday afternoon and was released on an unsecured $5,000 bond.

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[Featured image: Dazhon Darien/Baltimore County Police Department]