An elementary school teacher faces charges for allegedly attacking another woman in South Carolina and calling her a racial slur.
The incident reportedly took place at a Sam’s Club warehouse in Columbia on Saturday afternoon (February 14).
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release that deputies were dispatched to the store following a report of an a*sault.
A fourth-grade teacher is facing criminal charges after authorities say she struck a woman and directed a racial slur at her
Image credits: WACH FOX
By the time they arrived at the scene, the suspect, identified as teacher Ashley Murff, had already left.
The victim told deputies that she was in the checkout line when a white woman called her a racial slur, triggering a verbal dispute.
She said that when she attempted to take a photo of the woman who used the slur, the woman punched her in the face, starting a physical altercation between them.
Image credits: Freepik | aleksandarlittlewolf (Not the actual image)
Four days after the incident, authorities located and arrested 42-year-old Murff, who works as a fourth-grade school teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to Atlanta Black Star.
She was charged with a*sault and battery in the third degree.
T’Nae Parker, a community activist who is close to the victim, said her friend explained that the confrontation began when the victim offered to help an elderly woman.
The attack reportedly began in a checkout line after the victim offered to help an elderly shopper
Image credits: tnaethetruth
Image credits: tnaethetruth
“There was an elderly lady that didn’t have the ability to stand in line, and my friend offered to just get a chicken for her,” Parker said.
“People are allowed to do that. You’re allowed to get more than one chicken.
“That’s when she called her the racial slur,” Parker continued. “She called her the racial slur twice, the N-word, and she said it twice.”
Image credits: T’Nae Parker
Image credits: tnaethetruth
Image credits: MsTrixieRVA
Parker said her friend is still recovering from the incident, which caused her physical and emotional harm.
“She’s shaken up, physically, you know, she was punched in the face,” she told local media.
“She’s had headaches. And also, just the mental toll of it, it’s just unbelievable.”
Ashley Murff, 42, is being held at the Alvin Glenn Detention Center in South Carolina
Image credits: WACH FOX
Regarding reports that Murff is an elementary school teacher, Parker expressed concern about the influence her beliefs may have on her students.
“The situation highlights why it matters what people believe in, the biases that they carry,” she said. “Those beliefs don’t just exist in private. They show up in classrooms.”
After reviewing surveillance footage from the store, investigators determined that Murff was the primary aggressor and arrested her. She is currently being held at the Alvin Glenn Detention Center pending a bond hearing.
Image credits: WACH FOX
A school district spokesperson said Muff is suspended with pay pending an investigation related to her arrest.
Earlier this month, an unidentified white woman was filmed calling a Black man a racial slur in a Dallas convenience store.
The video showed the woman arguing with the man and violently snatching his glasses off his face. The man then slapped her, and the two began a physical altercation.
The case follows other incidents in the United States in which individuals were filmed using racial slurs
Image credits: WIS News 10
“Why are you hitting me?” the woman asked, to which the man responded, “Because you hit me first!”
Before the video ended, the woman called the man the N-word as a staff member intervened to break up the fight.
Last month, a viral video showed a white man outside a San Francisco bar telling another man to “go back to Mexico” and using a racial slur.
Image credits: tnaethetruth
Image credits: SomeoneAren
The unidentified man challenged the victim, telling him to “come and get it” in front of the crowd that had gathered outside the bar.
“I’ll knock you out cold, boy,” the seemingly inebriated white man threatened. “I’ll knock you out down to Mexico!” He also began making weapon gestures with his hand while yelling, “Pow, pow, pow.”
Another man then walked up and punched the aggressor in the face, prompting him to flee.
A teacher in Florida sang a version of “Happy Birthday” to a Black student that included the word “monkey”
Image credits: Richland County
In October 2025, a white teacher at a Florida elementary school received a written reprimand for singing an alternative version of the “Happy Birthday” song to a six-year-old Black student that included lyrics saying he looked like a “monkey.”
A video of the incident begins with students sitting around the child at a table as the teacher leads the class in singing the classic “Happy Birthday” song.
After they finished, the teacher asked the boy whether he would like to hear the “funny” version. The boy, reportedly named Legend, nodded, and the teacher began singing the song.
Image credits: WIS News 10
“OK, it goes like this,” she said. “Happy birthday to you. You live in the zoo. You look like a monkey, and you smell like one, too.”
The boy’s mother filed a complaint with the school and stated, “No child should have to go to school and feel like they can’t confide in an authority figure without them calling them racial slurs, and that goes for any kid, not just my child.”
Social media users condemned the elementary school teacher following her alleged attack on the shopper
