Teacher Kevin Bean of Boyertown, Pennsylvania
A Pennsylvania elementary school teacher may have to fight to keep his position, after district administrators learned of his secondary job. When he’s not teaching, 36-year-old Kevin Bean of Boyertown is an amateur wrestler and his choice of costume is kicking up controversy. He performs as a Nazi character using the stage name Blitzkrieg the German Juggernaut.
Here’s what you need to know.
1. School Officials Learned of Bean’s Side Job After a Video Surfaced on Social Media Showing Bean Waving a German Iron Cross Flag
In the video above, Kevin Bean is seen performing at a recent World Wide Wrestling Alliance Show. He comes out waving a German Iron Cross flag. His tank top features a lightning bolt symbol, in the style used by the SS in Nazi Germany. The symbol continues to be used by white supremacists and Neo-Nazi groups today.
Bean can be seen throwing up Nazi salutes. He’s also heard yelling “Seig Heil” as he moves through the crowd, which means “Hail Hitler.” The performance in question reportedly took place on June 23rd in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.
Bean has allegedly been performing the gimmick for several years. But he came under scrutiny for it after the video above was posted on July 18th. It was shared by Ryan Satin, who runs a website called the Pro Wrestling Sheet. He explained his disgust upon finding the video: “This video makes me sick. Watching the guy do nazi salutes on his way to the ring while children in the crowd cheer him on like a good guy is terrifying.”
2. District Officials Say Bean’s Actions in the Video “Do Not Represent the Core Values of the School”
Bean teaches fifth and sixth grade in the Spring-Ford Area School District, which is about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia. School officials said in a statement, “Once administrators were made aware of the video they acted immediately to conduct an internal investigation. The actions portrayed in this video do not represent the core values of the school district. As an educational organization, we pride ourselves in providing a safe and nurturing learning environment.”
Although the school district seemingly did not know of Bean’s wrestling side gig, his students apparently were very well aware. The owner of the World Wide Wrestling Association also told the Blast many of the people cheering in the crowd were students from Bean’s school. That fact does not sit well with critics on social media.
@ryansatin Man this just gets crazier and crazier! He’s a teacher and they were kids from his school! I find it hard to believe the school had no idea give me a break!
3. Bean Has Been Working as a Teacher Since at Least 2004
According to the Spring-Ford Area School District website, Kevin Bean has been employed in the district since 2004. It does not list which subjects he teaches, but does say his classroom is in the intermediate school.
Bean’s LinkedIn profile is sparsely populated. It only states that he teaches sixth grade at the Spring-Ford Area School District.
4. The WWWA Owner Describes Bean as a Religious Person
World Wide Wrestling AssociationKevin Bean
In an interview with the Blast, the owner of the World Wide Wrestling Association Dino Sanna described Bean as a “good guy and not a hateful person.” He told the website that Bean is active with his church.
Sanna also said that he has never received any direct complaints about Bean’s Nazi character, adding “Everyone has a gimmick, it’s wrestling.” He does not know why Bean chose this particular character, but says Blitzkrieg the German Juggernaut is popular with fans.
5. The Poster Who First Shared the Video has Received Some Backlash on Social Media
Ryan Satin’s original tweet sharing the video of Kevin Bean’s wrestling performance generated a lot of attention. It’s been viewed more than 26,000 times. While many critics expressed dismay at the idea of a teacher displaying Nazi symbols and salutes, others expressed support for Bean and anger at Satin.
One poster wrote, “You should look into who he really is before persecuting him. He’s a church going, wonderful teacher and father. It’s a gimmick. No one was injured. Way to ruin a good person’s life.”
@ryansatin So he uses a gimmick in wrestling like so many before, Iron Sheik, Nicoli Bolkoff, some have used a terrorist moniker, the God father was a pimp and razor Ramon was a drug dealer. Grow up and find a real cause to get behind, no wonder the see us as snowflakes
Another cited the fact that wrestlers always use costumes, and questioned whether anger over Bean’s characterization was worth it. “So he uses a gimmick in wrestling like so many before, Iron Sheik, Nicoli Bolkoff, some have used a terrorist moniker, the God father was a pimp and razor Ramon was a drug dealer. Grow up and find a real cause to get behind, no wonder the see us as snowflakes.”
@ryansatin Not to defend Mr.Bean’s Actions, but as a former student he was always a super energized and an all around polite and nice guy. Obviously this is unacceptable, but when it came to his job as a teacher he always went above and beyond.
A former student of Kevin Bean stated that while he did not support Bean’s action, he wanted to stress his teacher. “Not to defend Mr.Bean’s Actions, but as a former student he was always a super energized and an all around polite and nice guy. Obviously this is unacceptable, but when it came to his job as a teacher he always went above and beyond.”
Satin responded to the backlash: “If you’re angry with me for tweeting my disgust over an elementary school teacher bringing students to a wrestling event to show off his Nazi character, please know I don’t care.
Whatever happens is on him, not me… Like, are you really surprised a guy who celebrates every major Jewish holiday with his family might feel uncomfortable/unhappy seeing a roomful of people who think it’s ok to be doing nazi salutes in public?”
