Dayanna Volitich is a Citrus County teacher who has been removed from the classroom in response to the discovery that she hosts a white nationalist podcast.
The 25-year-old social studies teacher at Crystal River Middle School was outed as the host of the aptly named "Unapologetic" podcast, where she shares anti-Semitic and Islamophobic views.
A recent investigation from the Huffington Post discovered Volitich - operating under the pseudonym 'Tiana Dalichov' - used the podcast to spread her white nationalist ideals.
In her most recent episode on February 26, Volitich bragged about bringing her white supremacist beliefs into her classroom while keeping it from administrators.
In one instance, Volitich said a parent emailed her principal, concerned about Volitich 'injecting political bias' into her teaching.
"The principal came to me and she was like 'I'm not worried... should I be worried?' and I'm like 'no' and she believed me and she backed off," Volitich said in the podcast.
Citrus County School Board Superintendent Sandra Himmel released a statement on Sunday confirming the ongoing investigation.
Among other extreme views, Volitich has said that terrorism will continue until Muslims are eradicated "from the face of the earth," and argues that some races are smarter than others.
In a statement to WFLA, Volitich said her actions within the podcast and on social media as 'Tiana Dolichov' were "political satire:"
“None of the statements released about my being a white nationalist or white supremacist have any truth to them, nor are my political beliefs injected into my teaching of social studies curriculum. While operating under the Russian pseudonym “Tiana Dalichov” on social media and the Unapologetic Podcast, I employed political satire and exaggeration, mainly to the end of attracting listeners and followers, and generating conversation about the content discussed between myself and my guests. The views “Tiana Dalichov” espouses do not pervade my professional career. As an adult, my decisions are my own, and my family has nothing whatsoever to do with my social media accounts or my podcast. From them, I humbly ask for forgiveness, as it was never my intention to cause them grief while engaging in a hobby on my personal time. All future questions about the current situation should be directed to my attorney. I cannot comment further, due to the ongoing school board investigation.”
