Teacher caught on video breaking up fight with broom speaks out

Tiffani Eaton fired after intervening in fight

DETROIT – In her first interview, Local 4 spoke with the Pershing High School teacher who was seen in a video breaking up a student fight with a broom.

Tiffani Eaton described the brutal brawl that went down in her classroom.

"They were fighting over a designer belt," Eaton said.

The two boys who were fighting cleared the classroom, throwing punches at each other.

"I thought quickly in (the) atmosphere," Eaton said.

Eaton took action after one of the student's pinned the other on the ground.

When asked why she used a broom, Eaton said, "I'm not strong enough to diffuse the fight with my own strength. He was pounding that student."

Eaton said after the fight, school leaders called her in to their office, showed her the video and fired her on the spot.

"I thought the matter needed more investigating," Eaton said. "(They) never asked my side of the story." 

The Education Achievement Authority is still looking into the matter. Meanwhile, Pershing's principal is coming to the teacher's defense.

The principal released a statement that read:

"First, Ms. Eaton should never have been fired. Period. I am asking EAA administration to reverse path. Our teachers at Pershing High and at all other schools are called upon to be the impossible every day: counselor, security guard, teacher and more." 

"I wrote down what happened," Eaton said. "They showed me the video of what happened and they said, We can't have that at our school.'"