Protesters Call For Woodland Hills Principal To Be Fired At Board Meeting

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The chant "Fire Principal Murray" filled the room at Monday night's Woodland Hills School Board meeting.

"What do we want - education, what don't we want - incarceration," people shouted.

Before the meeting even began, the Alliance for Police Accountability, One Pittsburgh and the Education Rights Network were protesting, claiming a student is being re-victimized.

"They want to flip the script and criminalize this young man for what he had the courage to stand up and do," one demonstrator said.

A 14-year-old male student at Woodland Hills High School recorded what is said to be the voice of Principal Kevin Murray threatening him as he was being disciplined.

"I'm going to [expletive] punch you in the face. Man-to-man, bro. I don't care if you are [expletive] 14-years-old or not. I will punch you in your face, and when we go down to court, it's your word against mine, and mine wins every time."

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State law prohibits anyone from recording another without their knowledge, so the boy's recording will not be used against Murray. That is not sitting well with some parents.

"What he did was wrong, I have seen the ugly side of Woodland Hills," one woman said.

The 14-year-old student is facing wiretapping charges for recording another school employee in another confrontation.

"A brave child told the truth we are not going to let you prosecute," some shouted.

But while protesters made their voices heard, there were plenty of people on hand to support Principal Murray.

"But I am here to say that the board to please be fair with Kevin," one parent said.

"I have known him to a be nice respectful mentor to me," one student said.

"He is an alumni, who grew up in the green and white housing plan of Turtle Creek and he made it his decision to come back here and give everything he had to his beloved community," a Woodland Hills teacher said.

The attorney for principal Kevin Murray is scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.