Christopher Flanigan Brooklyn teacher fired Sunday afternoon for calling for violence against cops mourning NYPD cop death in Instagram post as social media demanded the Coney Island Prep teacher be ousted.
A Brooklyn teacher has caused disconcert after seemingly calling for violence against NYPD cops in an Instagram post as they mourned the loss of a fellow detective. The post led to the educator come Sunday afternoon being fired from his employer (more on this breaking news below).
Christopher Flanigan, who teaches math at Coney Island Prep, posted an overhead shot of thousands of officers outside of St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Friday for the funeral of Det. Jason Rivera, 22, who was fatally shot while responding to a domestic call earlier this month.
Flanigan captioned the photo in his Instagram story: ‘5/30/20: NYPD SUV drives into a crowd of protestors. Ideal conditions for reciprocity,’ according to the New York Post.
The educator was referencing an incident following the death of George Floyd in May 2020 in which an NYPD vehicle drove into a crowd of protestors demonstrating against police brutality in Brooklyn.
Then Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the cops did not use the vehicle in a forceful manner, as former Mayor Bill de Blasio called footage of the incident ‘troubling’ while also condemning protestors for not moving out of the way. No injuries were reported at the time.
A public city school teacher, Christopher Flanigan, who teaches math at Coney Island Prep in Brooklyn, posted an Instagram story Sat. tht appeared to encourage violence against cops mourning the murder of detective Jason Rivera, drawing outrage from members of New York’s Finest. https://t.co/8qELc7QAME
— 💃Roxanne (@Roxanne060979) January 30, 2022
‘Has Coney Island Prep fired this scumbag yet?’
Cops who saw Flanigan’s post, though, said they were upset that Flanigan was advocating for an unprovoked attack on officers just weeks after Rivera and his partner, Wilbert Mora, 27, were shot dead in East Harlem while responding to a domestic call.
‘For a school to condone an act of terrorism is reprehensible,’ one Manhattan cop told the nypost, noting, ‘I wouldn’t want him giving my own children instruction of any kind.’
Added a Brooklyn officer, ‘You have a city worker wishing physical harm or worse to fellow city workers during a solemn service. It is the ultimate act of cowardice.’
The social media post has led to commentators on Twitter demanding that Coney Island Prep now fire the math teacher – who was once featured on NY1 for his musical tributes to first responders during the early days of the pandemic.
‘Coney Island Prep Math teacher Christopher Flanigan encouraged violence against NY cops,’ wrote Claire Balan. ‘Parents watch who’s influencing your kids! Do you support this @CIPrep? #FireFlanigan.’
Posted another, ‘NYC teacher calls for vehicular attack on mourning NYPD officers. This cancer is all over our public education. Christopher Flanigan, a math teacher in Brooklyn. How sick is this man. He should be fired!!’
Another Twitter user wrote directly to the school, saying: ‘I assume the announcement about he termination of Christopher Flanigan’s contract is forthcoming? Or do you want to destroy your school financially? Because it is either him or you at this point, but one of you is going down.’
Teacher not loved
Others shamed the school, with one person writing, ‘Is this the message you want your students to receive? Is the Is kind of person you let #teach?,’ while another commentor asked: ‘Has Coney Island Prep fired this scumbag yet?’
While others demanded the teacher be imminently arrested.
It was obvious that school administrators were paying attention, with Coney Island Prep announcing late Sunday that Chris Flanigan, no longer works for the school.
‘We do not condone or promote violence of any sort. As of this afternoon, Mr. Flanigan is no longer employed at Coney Island Prep,’ Coney Island Prep CEO Leslie-Bernard Joseph said in a statement according to the nypost.
‘The teachers and staff of Coney Island Prep are public servants; and like all public servants we hold ourselves to a much higher standard,’ Joseph added. ‘We work hard to serve the young people in our community, and we know our police officers do as well, taking innumerable risks, to keep our city safe.’
Flanigan told the nypost he’d received death threats over his since-deleted Instagram story. He claimed his message was “misconstrued” and that he was merely commenting on the “vulnerability” of the crowd of cops.
#ChristopherFlanigan
We misconstrued nothingNice try#DoYouWantThatSupersized https://t.co/8Ix30xbnU4 pic.twitter.com/51aMaomdOo
— L just L (@skis416) January 31, 2022
Teacher releases desperate statement
‘I respect the NYPD. I do not condone violence,’ he insisted on Sunday. ‘A 22-year-old police officer murdered in the line of duty is reprehensible. I’m devastated by that.’
Flanigan’s post came as a NYC actress was fired from her theater company after ‘insensitively’ condemning street closures during the Friday funeral of fallen NYPD cop, Jason Rivera.
Posted Jacqueline Guzman in a now-deleted TikTok video post:
‘We do not need to shut down most of Lower Manhattan because one cop died for probably doing his job incorrectly,’
‘They kill people who are under 22 every single day for no good reason and we don’t shut down the city for them, so.’
‘This is f**king ridiculous, this is f**king ridiculous,’ Guzman rants.
Complaining about the Officer Rivera’s funeral on 5th Ave NYC pic.twitter.com/n08Te6OaaB
— Blue Lives Matter 💎 (@RetiredNYCPD) January 29, 2022
‘What if someone having a heart attack in this area? No one can get to them because it’s all blocked off for one f**king cop.’
The post led to wide rebuke on social media and the actresses own theater company firing the woman, releasing a statement, calling Guzman’s video ‘insensitive’ and that it does not ‘condone’ her ‘comments made about fallen Officer Rivera.’
‘Face to Face Films has just been made aware of an insensitive video involving one of our members, Jacqueline Guzman,’ the company wrote in a statement on Facebook.
‘Face to Face Films does not support nor can condone these comes made about fallen Officer Rivera. As a result, she is no longer a member of our company.’
The Cuban American later deleted all of her social media accounts as she continued to be maligned while others supported her right to express her point of view, irrespective if it were palatable, sensitive or endearing to most… while also keeping in mind, free speech often comes with consequences – the public or one’s closest to you turning their back on you.
