An assistant principal at a high school in a suburb of Rochester, New York, has been placed on leave following outrage in the community over the administrator live-streaming himself cursing out the police while attending a Black Lives Matter protest in the city.
In the nearly 50-second stream, school administrator Steve Lysenko yells about what a “s***ty a** job” the Rochester Police Department (RPD) are allegedly doing, adding, “f*** the police,” and noting that the RPD “can f*** right off, America!”
According to 13 WHAM, parents and members of the Spencerport community expressed outrage over the expletive-laced anti-cop rant from the administrator. As of Tuesday morning, an online petition has garnered more than 5,500 signatures calling for Lysenko’s firing.
A statement released by the district this week said Lysenko, “a tenured administrator with due process rights,” will be placed on leave pending an investigation.
“Mr. Steven Lysenko is a tenured administrator with due process rights,” the statement reads. “He has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.”
“This incident has caused significant disruption in our school community,” it continues. “We are working diligently to open schools consistent with our reopening plan, keeping student safety as our top priority. We appreciate the outpouring of emails, posts and comments regarding this matter. We hope you understand that given this is a pending investigation we are unable to respond. Thank you for your patience.”
Lysenko is the 9th grade and academy assistant principal at Spencerport High School. The left-wing activist also identified himself as the “president of the local chapter of the national association for multicultural education” via livestream.
“Good evening, folks, it’s Steve Lysenko, president of the local chapter of the national association for multicultural education,” the administrator started the livestream (see video below). “In an act of protest this evening, we marched west on Court Street, and we didn’t do anything but chant and sing all the way — halfway across the bridge, at which point we met the Rochester Police Department.”
“And guess what happened?” he continued. “Our ‘peacekeepers’ ended up shooting pepper spray at us for singing and chanting and telling them what a s***ty a** job they were doing. They can f*** right off, America. F*** the police! F*** the Rochester Police Department!”
Lysenko was protesting the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old black male who died seven days after an interaction with the RPD back in March, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
An autopsy report from the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office, according to WXXI News, “listed the cause of Prude’s death as ‘complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint due to excited delirium due to acute phencyclidine intoxication,’ an indication that Prude might have been high on PCP.”
As WXXI News highlighted, police reports indicate Prude had apparently “gone on a destructive tear,” “smashing out the windows of several storefronts, and ranting about having the coronavirus” before police came in contact with him.
WATC (language warning):
.@SpencerportCSD administrator rants against @RochesterNYPD at Friday night's anti-police demonstration in #ROC. pic.twitter.com/kXhPsyt60X
— Bob Lonsberry (@BobLonsberry) September 5, 2020