Newly hired Webb City R-7 official says she is not responsible for racist, anti-Muslim comments on Twitter feed

Webb City R-7 officials are scrambling after X (Twitter) comments and retweets allegedly written by the district's newly hired assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction ranged from apparent approval of racial and religious bigotry to spreading conspiracy theories.

While Allison Pope's X feed has been shut down, screenshots from it circulated throughout Webb City R-7 buildings and the community since they were first discovered Thursday.

In a district still reeling from the May 5, 2022 suicide of 14-year-old Rezwan Kohistani, an Afghan refugee and Muslim, who was reportedly bullied, the screenshots from Pope's X account included the reposting of anti-Muslim tweets.

In an e-mail to district personnel, the current Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Brenten Byrd, who will become superintendent July 1, said Pope, who currently serves as superintendent of the Hurley R-1 School District, claims she was hacked, and he believes her.

It was brought to our attention yesterday, midday, that there were some strange and offensive tweets on Dr. Pope's Twitter account. We immediately contacted Dr. Pope who shut down her Twitter account and indicated she had been hacked.

Our tech department was notified and immediately started working with Dr. Pope and I to try to find out when and how. 

Byrd provided a number of reasons why he believed Pope, including the background check of Pope's social media district officials reportedly did before Pope was hired.

 

There was nothing remotely close to the information posted on Twitter.

Byrd indicated there were tell-tale signs that Pope's account had been hacked including the following:

-"The account has the wrong birth date."

-When people first viewed the account, it showed "several followers and followings. When our tech department accessed the account, all followers and followings had been deleted. This is an indication of a hacked or a duplicated account."

-"The login activity came from multiple IP addresses across the state and in different states." Byrd said Pope was not in those locations on those particular days.

-Byrd said the district has sent a request to X to find out the dates and IP address of the retweets. "We do not believe this request will be taken, but we are trying."

The screenshots that are circulating around the Webb City community include comments Pope allegedly left on other tweets, including one in which she showed her appreciation for a comment promoting the QAnon Adrenacrome conspiracy theory, which claims Democrats and Hollywood elite harvest children's blood for adrenacrome that can keep them young and they are responsible for child trafficking.

"Thank you for sharing that information and bringing evil to our attention."

In another comment, Pope's X account showed her criticizing U. S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe for refusing to honor the flag and national anthem of the United States, a sentiment with which many agreed, but the comment veered in a different direction.

And as a female, biological men should not compete against me. Doesn't make it a political issue."

 

The screenshots also indicated Pope approving inappropriate comments about the president, including one that referred to him as a "lying sack of sh*t." 

One Pope comment on a screenshot had her asking, "Do you think Biden is actually in charge?"

The comments showed a disdain for former President Donald Trump's indictment. "Lets me know that they still see him as a threat. All the more reason to re-elect him."

In his letter to staff, Byrd criticized those who were sharing information about Pope's alleged tweets.

"Please let this serve as a reminder that if you see something that doesn't seem right or is derogatory in nature on a social media account, please do not gossip about it, but instead let an administrator know so we can immediately take action."

Byrd said he had talked with Pope and "she is just sick over the false and inaccurate representation that this situation has caused. I am beyond frustrated that as we try to start a new chapter in the great school district of Webb City that someone so incomprehensible would try to create drama."

Some R-7 staff members are skeptical of Pope's claim that she was hacked and Byrd's reasons for backing that claim, noting that there were educational tweets mixed in with the racially and politically charged comments.

Another problem, staff members told the Turner Report was the deletion of a comment on Pope's Facebook page Thursday that made a joke out of killing President Biden.

In the post, Kevin Costner's character from the TV series Yellowstone says, "I need you to take Brandon to the train station." Brandon is a reference to President Biden, while taking someone to the train station is a reference to killing someone and disposing of the body.

On the post, Pope, or someone claiming to be Pope, said, "I couldn't help but laugh."

At this point, Byrd has made no mention of Pope's Facebook page being hacked.