Florida teacher fired after telling students antifa breached Capitol
The educator was let go not just from the school, but from the entire school system in the area
Spouting baseless conspiracy theories is bad enough if you are a private citizen. But if you’re an educator, it may cost you your job. That’s what a Florida substitute teacher found out when she was let go after telling her middle school students that antifa was responsible for the Capitol breach.
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Per TMZ, a student recorded the teacher saying that three members of Antifa were behind the insurrection that has led to multiple arrests for those involved, who appeared to be Trump supporters. Most are believed to have attended a rally on Jan. 6 hoping to stop the official certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
When the student told the teacher that the rioters were in Trump gear and wearing MAGA hats and other Trump- related paraphernalia, she said, “When they’re paid to be there and cause a riot they wanna make it look like Trump supporters so they wear Trump hats and carry Trump flags.”
The teacher, a sub that day at Bok Academy in Lake Wales, Florida, may have been referencing a since debunked article in the conservative Washington Times. The article, “Facial Recognition Claims antifa Infiltrated Trump Protesters who Stormed Capitol” was retracted after the Singapore-based company XRvision, cited as a source, said they never spoke to anyone from the Times.
A student challenged the teacher’s assertion saying they believed it was Proud Boys and Trump supporters at the Capitol that day. The teacher retorted that it was the Trump supporters “trying to stop them from breaking windows.” When the student said that they were wearing MAGA hats, the unidentified teacher responded: “Anybody can put on a MAGA hat when they’re paid to be there and cause a riot. They want to make it look like Trump supporters so they wear Trump hats and carry Trump flags. Does that make them Trump supporters? No.”
The FBI has said they have no information that the protestors who stormed the Capitol were members of antifa, a loosely organized group that disavows fascism.
The students weren’t convinced. One asked to leave while the other challenged the teacher, who said she was just stating the ‘”facts” and that if there was an attempt to overthrow the government, she wanted to know why there were no guns involved.
“Where is the video? You cannot have a government overthrow without guns,” she asked.
Bok Academy’s principal Dr. Damien Moses told TMZ that the conspiracy theorist had been let go, not just from the academy but from the entire school district.
“We met with her and she has been dismissed not only from our school, but also from the Lake Wales Charter School System,” Moses said.
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And he told the outlet, “We have spoken with the students twice, and plan on speaking with them again. We had a conversation about the situation, and just relayed that we do not discuss politics on our campus.”
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