Steven Lysenko, an assistant principal at the Spencerport High School, New York, has evoked mixed reactions after posting a controversial live video on Facebook.
The city of Rochester has recently seen a sharp rise in riots after a body cam footage of the arrest of Daniel Prude was released. After Prude was arrested in March, he passed away a week later.
Lysenko, as a part of protesting, released the live video in which he was shouting “f*ck the police.”
“We didn’t do anything but chant and sing,” Lysenko says in the video clip. “Our peacekeepers ended up shooting pepper spray at us for singing and chanting and telling them what a s—-y-assed job they were doing. They can f— right off America! F— the police. F— Rochester Police Department,” Lysenko said in the video.
“You should be fired. AND you should never be allowed to have anything to do with the education of our youth,” is an example of one of the many comments online.
On the other hand, a Change.org petition has racked up over 5000 signatures urging the school to let Lysenko keep his job.
“(Lysenko) is setting a good example to the students at Spencerport showing us to fight for what we believe in,” a post on the petition read.
“Swear words are just words and should not be a reason to be fired. We all hear swear words anyways so it is not a big deal.”
The school district, in a statement, wrote that the matter will be addressed confidentially. “This will be addressed as a confidential, personnel matter.”
Lysenko has posted several of his personal opinions, often strongly worded, about the BLM movement and his support for it.
