NY assistant principal goes off at Rochester protests: 'Fuck the police!'
By Lee Brown
New York Post
September 6, 2020
The assistant principal of an upstate high school has sparked outrage
with a Facebook Live video he recorded during the Rochester protests —
in which he screamed, “Fuck the police!”
Steven Lysenko, a ninth-grade AP teacher at Spencerport High School
in suburban Rochester, complained about officers targeting protesters
even though “we didn’t do anything but chant and sing,” according to
copies of the video that have gone viral online.
“Our peacekeepers ended up shooting pepper spray at us for singing
and chanting and telling them what a shitty-assed job they were doing,” he
complained in the clip, which was saved and shared on social media.
“They can fuck right off, America!” he shouted.
“Fuck the police! Fuck Rochester Police Department!” screamed the school official while wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt.
After his expletive-laden tirade, Lysenko calmed himself enough to
sign off with a polite “thank you,” according to the clip that started
making rounds Sunday.
School officials in the suburban village addressed the uproar over
the post in a message Saturday — while stressing the scandal will be “addressed as a confidential, personnel matter.”
“We apologize to our students, parents and community that you had to
hear this language from one of our employees,” Spencerport Central
School District said in a statement.
The district insisted it “stands in solidarity in support of racial
equality and systemic change” and stressed that “we further stand in
solidarity with peaceful protesters.”
“However, when a District employee uses language in public or on
social media that does not align with our Code of Conduct or demonstrate
appropriate role modeling for students, that is something that we will
not condone,” the statement stressed.
“These statements by our administrator have caused disruption within our school community,” it conceded.
The response was not enough for some outraged at his tirade.
“Any Spencerport student with a similar rant on social media would
have consequences. This is not respectful and encourages hate. Fire
him,” Jeff Belles wrote to the district.
However, more than 2,500 people appeared to have signed a Change.org petition demanding he not be fired.
“He is setting a good example to the students at Spencerport showing
us to fight for what we believe in. Swear words are just words and
should not be a reason to be fired,” the petition says.
Lysenko, the president of the local chapter of the National
Association for Multicultural Education, has previously used his social
media to stand with the Black Lives Matter movement.
“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!” he wrote in a post in June.
He also posted a Facebook video apologizing for using “police-centric and police-friendly language” in earlier discussions.
His profiles describe him as an “Advocate for Social Justice,
Educator, Child of God” — with one follower, Michael Reed, telling him,
“You are not a child of God, Mr. Pottymouth.”
Lysenko did not immediately respond Sunday to messages from The Post.
Rochester has seen four nights of protests
following the release of disturbing police video showing the arrest of
Daniel Prude, who died in custody after his arrest in March.
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