HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLA. — Hillsborough County teacher Karen Whitmire Savage was removed from Barrington Middle School after a video showed her hanging a Black baby doll from a classroom television monitor using a cord. The 63-year-old educator was pulled from the school while the district conducts an investigation.

The video, recorded by a 14-year-old student, has been viewed and shared hundreds of thousands of times across social media. The clip appears to show Savage using an electrical cord to suspend the doll from the television monitor while students watched.

The student, identified as Noah, described what he saw in the classroom. "She took the charger cord and wrapped it around the baby's neck and tied it," he said. "She tried multiple attempts to get it above the TV, and once she got it over, she lowered it down so it would be visible under the TV."

Noah said he decided to document the scene as it unfolded. "While she was lowering it down, I think I should record this so I have more proof that she did it," he said. He said classmates reacted immediately: "Everybody started telling her it was wrong and racist to do that." Noah said the teacher then responded that she said it was just a joke, and then she took down the doll.

Noah reported the incident to school administrators. He said Savage followed him to the student affairs office and spoke over him while he tried to explain what happened.

His mother, Nina Williams, described her reaction upon learning of the incident. "My heart started racing. I immediately just went into a panic," she said. "I'm still in shock."

Williams said the imagery has left a lasting impression on the students who witnessed it. "That is not something that I expected my children in 2026 to ever have to deal with seeing — a lynching, whether it was real or fake," she said. "The whole image is just horrific. This is something they will never forget. This will be with my son for the rest of his life."

Williams said she is pursuing legal options. "Yes, I have a few attorneys, civil rights attorneys and a few people that I have reached out to. Things are in the works," she said. She credited the district's response. "I do thank them for moving quickly to remove her from the school building," Williams said. "I am praying that she never gets to return to another school in any county in any state."

Superintendent Van Ayres addressed the incident in a statement. "I am aware of an inappropriate and highly offensive display that took place in a classroom yesterday at Barrington Middle School," Ayres said. "The content of this display is unacceptable and does not reflect the values of our school community, or me as your superintendent, and will not be tolerated." On her personal social media pages, Savage describes herself as a mother, grandmother, and longtime educator who calls teaching her "gift and passion." Savage has not publicly commented on the incident.