Grand Folks Herald reported that a Minnesota school bus driver who left about 20 Horizon Middle School students stranded in the city’s industrial park last week, then used a racial slur as they got off the bus, says he lost his temper and regrets his actions.
“I should have never said the N-word,” David Russell Miller said Wednesday, Nov. 30. “I apologize for everything, to all the kids.”
Miller, 50, of Moorhead, said three students had designated seats in the front of the bus because of past behavior issues.
Three students were complaining about their assigned seats during the ride home Nov. 22, and an argument erupted between Miller and one of the three, who is black.
The student called Miller an N-word twice, according to Miller and a Moorhead police report written by an officer who reviewed video from the bus.
Miller told the students to get off in the 2500 block of 12th Avenue South, an industrial part of town. As students left the bus, Miller said, “You (N-words). Get off my bus,” according to the report.
Despite his use of the slur, Miller insisted that he’s not racist. “The reason why the N-word was called is because I was called it,” he said. “I’m white. Why would anybody call me the N-word?”
Miller said being called the slur caused him to lose his temper. What also made him irate was that the student said, “he’d tell his brother to come shoot me,” according to Miller. This statement was not in the police report, which notes that not all of the exchange between Miller and the student was audible in the video.
Miller was fired from his job with Red River Trails, a company contracted to provide buses and drivers for the Moorhead School District.
Superintendent Lynne Kovash said another bus was immediately sent to pick up the students, but many of them had already secured other rides.
Kovash said school officials met with all the students, “quite a few” of whom are black, and apologized to them Monday, Nov. 28. “Whether they were misbehaving or not, they should have never been dropped off like that,” she said.
Kovash said school officials are not investigating Miller’s actions, because he was not a district employee.
Criminal charges are not expected against Miller or any students, the police report said.
