Washington school principal said Kobe Bryant’s death was ‘karma.’ She just resigned

A Washington high school principal posted to her Facebook page that Kobe Bryant’s death was “karma.” Now she has resigned, media reports say.

Bryant died in a helicopter crash in Calabasa, California, on Jan. 26. The crash killed eight others, including his daughter Gianna. After hearing the initial news of his death, Camas High Principal Liza Sejkora posted to her personal Facebook profile, The Columbian reported.

“Not gonna lie,” the principal said on Facebook, The Columbian said. “Seems to me that karma caught up with a rapist today.”

In 2003, Bryant was arrested and accused of raping a 19-year-old employee, according to the Associated Press. A sex assault charge was dropped, and a civil suit was settled out of court, the AP said.

Sejkora faced backlash for her comments. She was placed on administrative leave, according to KATU. She received threats, and students had planned a walkout, KATU reported.

Camas School District Superintendent Jeff Snell said in a Friday statement that Sejkora has resigned, according to the Associated Press.

“I am working with the Camas leadership to resign my position as principal of Camas High School,” Sejkora said in a statement on Friday, according to KGW8. “Students and staff deserve to have a learning environment free of disruptions.”

Sejkora deleted her comments shortly after she posted them and said they “missed (her) intent,” the Camas-Washougal Post-Record reported.

“I just deleted a post,” she wrote, according to the Post-Record. “It was deleted because the comments missed my intent. You are free to judge me for the post just as I am free to judge the person the post was about. Also — if you are shocked I speak my mind on my page, I am honestly surprised.”

Even after her post was taken down, it was shared widely on social media, the Post-Record reported. Sejkora apologized for her post, The Columbian reported.

“After news broke (about) Kobe Bryant’s death, I made a comment to my private social media, which was a personal, visceral reaction,” Sejkora wrote, according to the Post-Record. “I want to apologize for suggesting that a person’s death is deserved. It was inappropriate and tasteless. Further, I apologize for the disruption it caused to our learning environment today.”

This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 10:38 PM with the headline "Washington school principal said Kobe Bryant’s death was ‘karma.’ She just resigned."