NYC school teacher who suggested that police officers be mowed down by an SUV in an act of ‘reciprocity’ loses job

On Saturday, Christopher Flanagan, who teaches math at Coney Island Prep in Brooklyn posted an overhead photo of thousands of officers lining Fifth Avenue for the funeral of Officer Rivera. Flanagan captioned the post: “5/30/20: NYPD SUV drives into a crowd of protestors. Ideal conditions for reciprocity.”

Flanigan appeared to be referencing an incident in which an NYPD vehicle drove through a group of Black Lives Matter protesters who refused to disperse during the summer of George Floyd’s “mostly peaceful protests.” The incident did not cause any injuries.

Then-police commish Dermot Shea said the police did not use the vehicle in a forceful manner, and video footage of the incident showed protesters slamming the vehicle and throwing objects at it before it pushed into the crowd, which refused to disperse, NY Post reported. Elsewhere in the city, several manned NYPD vehicles were set on fire with Molotov cocktails thrown by protesters.

Flanigan, who was once the subject of a news segment for his musical tributes to first responders in the early days of the pandemic, initially refused to answer questions about his Instagram post when asked by the New York Post.

“For a school teacher to condone an act of terrorism is reprehensible. I wouldn’t want him giving my own children instruction of any kind,” an NYPD officer said to the publication.

“You have a city worker wishing physical harm or worse to fellow city workers during a solemn service,“ another said. “It is the ultimate act of cowardice.”

Flanigan was fired the day after.

“We do not condone or promote violence of any sort. As of this afternoon, Mr. Flanigan is no longer employed at Coney Island Prep,” stated Coney Island Prep CEO Leslie-Bernard Joseph in a statement.

“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 said. “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, who is trying not to become permanently jobless, now claims that his post was “misconstrued” and that he was merely commenting on the “vulnerability” of the officers.

“I respect the NYPD. I do not condone violence,” he said to the Post on Sunday. “A 22-year-old police officer murdered in the line of duty is reprehensible. I’m devastated by that.”