A ninth-grade teacher and assistant principal was caught on camera shouting ‘f*** the police’ and suggesting police officers should leave America.
The video, which was recorded by the teacher himself, took place amid Rochester protests following the death of Daniel Prude, a man of color who passed away after officers placed a hood over his head.
In his Facebook Live video, Steven Lysenko, who is an assistant principal and a ninth-grade teacher at Spencerport High School, was heard bashing the police in an explicit rant.
As Lysenko insisted, he and other protesters who were allegedly doing nothing but “singing and chanting” were pepper-sprayed by the police as they passed by the Rochester Police Department.
Furious at the action of the police, the teacher shouted: “Our peacekeepers ended up shooting pepper spray at us for singing and chanting and telling them what a sh**y (…) job they were doing.”
Concluding his Facebook Live message, the assistant principal added: “They can f*** right off America. F*** the police. F*** Rochester police department. Thank you.”
Following the backlash and calls for disciplinary action after the rant went viral, the school district overlooking the high school that employs Lysenko vowed to address the issue “as a confidential, personnel matter.”
While the school district condemned the teacher for using foul language, they insisted they “stand in solidarity with peaceful protests” and are “committed to this change.”
While some people have demanded the teacher gets sacked for “inciting and expressing hate towards law enforcement,” others insisted it was within his rights to express his opinion. Over three thousand people have also signed the petition calling for Lysenko to retain his position at his school.
According to the reports, Lysenko has been very vocal about his support for the Black Lives Matter movement in recent months.
Back in June, the teacher allegedly warned his students he would not tolerate ‘white supremacy’ by writing: “To any students-past or present-who follow me here: know that when you post #WhiteLivesMatter, you are condoning White Supremacy. In that I will not abide!”
Replaced!