AndrewBlakePico Rivera, CA – The California public school teacher, whose anti-military comments were captured on video in the classroom, was fired on Wednesday.
School Board President Aurora Villon said the El Rancho Unified School District voted unanimously on March 20 to terminate Gregory Salcido, after the history teacher called people who serve in the military “dumbs**ts” during a classroom rant, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“Think about the people who you know who are over there. Your freaking stupid Uncle Louie or whatever. They’re dumbs**ts,” Salcido in the January tirade. “They’re not like high-level thinkers, they’re not academic people, they’re not intellectual people. They’re the lowest of our low.”
Villon said that Salcido’s comments did not reflect what the school district stood for or who they are. She said the classroom should never be a place where students felt bullied or intimidated or picked on by a teacher.
The school board received thousands of emails about Salcido’s comments, according to Villon.
Many veterans, and relatives of veterans, emailed the district from around the world to voice their displeasure, she said.
When White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general, heard about Salcido’s comments, he told FOX News that Salcido “ought to go to hell.”
The teacher apologized at a February city council meeting, and said that his comments had nothing to do with the moral character of people who serve in the military, FOX News reported.
The Los Angeles Times reported that more than 500 people attended the event, many of them furious with the history teacher.
Salcido, who is an alumnus of the high school where he taught history, said he didn’t believe the military was the best option for his students, but also said he was not anti-military.
The teacher is also a member of the Pico Rivera City Council, has 30 days to appeal the council’s decision to fire him from his teaching position with the El Rancho Unified School District.