<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n In the video, Lysenko was part of protests that followed the death of Daniel Prude in Rochester, New York, which we\u00a0discussed earlier<\/a>.\u00a0 The death raises very serious and disturbing questions of police abuse and racial justice.<\/p>\n In the videotape, Lysenko (who teaches outside of Rochester) is denouncing the response of the police to the protest by saying\u00a0\u201cWe didn\u2019t do anything but chant and sing,\u201d Lysenko says in the video clip. \u201cOur peacekeepers ended up shooting pepper spray at us for singing and chanting and telling them what a s\u2014-y-assed job they were doing. They can f\u2014 right off America! F\u2014 the police. F\u2014 Rochester Police Department.\u201d\u00a0 Not to forget his manners, he then ends with\u00a0\u201cthank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In response, the Spencerport Central School District released a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0that, although the district supports \u201cracial equality and systemic change,\u201d it does not condone an employee using profane language on social media.\u00a0 Accordingly,\u00a0\u201cThis will be addressed as a confidential, personnel matter.\u201d<\/p>\n The controversy has divided the community with some calling for Lysenko to be fired while thousands of others signed a\u00a0change.org<\/a>\u00a0petition in support of him.<\/p>\n Lysenko has been outspoken in his support of Black Lives Matter. On June 3 on Twitter, he declared \u201cTo any students-past or present-who follow me here: know that when you post \u201c#WhiteLivesMatter, you are condoning White Supremacy. I that I will not abide!\u201d<\/p>\n That last statement raises an issue of what Lysenko means by not \u201cabiding\u201d opposing views.\u00a0 However, so long as such intolerance is not displayed at school, Lysenko should be free to express his views outside of his employment. In the video, he identifies himself not as an assistant principal but an officer with a local anti-racism group.<\/p>\n Here is the video:\u00a0Lysenko video<\/a><\/p>\n We have previously seen teachers (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here,<\/a>and\u00a0here<\/a>) students (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>) and other public employees (here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0here<\/a>) fired for their private speech or conduct, including school employees fired for posing in magazines (here<\/a>), appearing on television shows in bikinis (here<\/a>), or having a prior career in the adult entertainment industry (here<\/a>).\u00a0 We\u00a0previously discussed<\/a>\u00a0the Vermont principal who was removed for\u00a0 expressing her opinion of Black Lives Matter on her personal Facebook page. We also\u00a0recently discussed\u00a0<\/a>the firing of a Michigan coach who expressed support for President Trump. However, this did not begin with the recent protests.\u00a0 We also\u00a0discussed a teacher who threatened other teachers who supported police<\/a>.<\/p>\n I hope that all of the roughly 4000 signatories to the petition in support of Lysenko would oppose his firing even if the controversial statement were flipped.\u00a0 I doubt that but from a free speech perspective it does not matter. The price of free speech is tolerance for views that we may find offensive or disturbing. Unlike Lysenko, we do \u201cabide\u201d opposing views.\u00a0 Some may not deserve free speech protections but they are protected nonetheless.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jonathanturley.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/download-1.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>Steven Lysenko clearly is not part of the Blue Lives Matter movement.\u00a0 Lysenko was shown recently on a video screaming \u201cF**k the Police\u201d and other profanities. That is a common form of political expression. The problem is that, in addition to be anti-police, Lysenko is the assistant principal of Spencerport High School. As will come as no surprise to readers of this blog, I do not support Lysenko\u2019s views but I strongly oppose those who want to discipline or fire him because of his exercise of free speech.<\/p>\n