Apology

I recently did a public safety demonstration of a Taser device, on behalf of the Axon Board of Directors. I was following through on a commitment I made to criminal justice leaders last April — to show my faith in the effort Axon put into the safety of the latest Taser, and to promote the idea that nonlethal gun alternatives reduce gun deaths between the police and the public.

However, I made serious mistakes I want to apologize for:

The first was a comparison I did not intend, but that I created. Although planned months in advance, my presentation came 2 weeks after the death of Keenan Anderson, a Black high school teacher in LA, and a few days before news broke of the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis. The medical safety of my presentation on a conference stage cannot compare to the horror of a young man’s violent police encounter on a street pavement on the last day of his life, a horror I will never experience. While I absolutely intended no such comparison, I regret that I created the appearance of one for some viewers. I apologize sincerely to those who I dishonored or offended with my demonstration, and I have deleted my video of it out of respect to everybody impacted.

I have another apology related to why I was doing this in the first place. I joined the Board of Axon because of its mission to reduce gun deaths. I helped Axon create the bodycam that filmed these tragedies, to shine a light on problems that have lasted for centuries. I believe transparency is the first step towards change. But that’s my belief, and it doesn’t need to be shared by others.?

This brings me to my next apology. I apologize to Code.org supporters, employees and teachers, because I let you down by causing some of you to question your support for Code.org. Code.org is nonpartisan, and does not hold opinions on issues unrelated to K-12 computer science. Our policy allows employees to use their personal voice on societal issues that are important to them. However, I learned a steep lesson that, as a leader, I must hold myself to a different standard, because my actions may reflect on Code.org even when in a clearly different context.?

Moving forward, when it comes to societal issues, I will only use my public voice to promote Code.org’s global work to introduce tens of millions of traditionally underrepresented students to computer science. Code.org will remain focused on the vision that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science. Supporting Code.org does not mean (and has never meant) endorsing any other idea.?

Hadi Partovi

Update: After posting this, I've fielded questions about Axon and my role as a Director. This report shares data about the impact and safety of Axon's products, which have been proven to reduce use of force, injuries, and fatalities. I joined Axon's board in 2010, years before founding Code.org. Axon's mission is personally meaningful to me because I spent my childhood in Iran in constant fear of the "morality police." You can read more about my thoughts about Axon in this article I posted in the summer of 2020.