A public city school teacher posted an Instagram story Saturday that appeared to encourage violence against police mourning the murder of detective Jason Rivera, drawing outrage from members of New York’s Finest.
Christopher Flanigan, who teaches math at Coney Island Prep in Brooklyn according to his LinkedIn page, posted an overhead shot of thousands of officers lining Fifth Avenue for Rivera’s funeral Friday St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The post was captioned, “5/30/20: NYPD SUV drives into a crowd of protestors. Ideal conditions for reciprocity.”
The incident Flanigan referenced happened in the wake of the George Floyd police murder, when an NYPD vehicle drove through a group of Brooklyn protestors that were demonstrating the Minnesota man’s death.
Then-Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said cops did not use the vehicle in a forceful manner. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio called footage of the incident “troubling” but also blamed protestors for not moving out of the way. No injuries were reported.
Flanigan — who was profiled by NY1 for his musical tributes to first responders in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic — was reached by The Post by phone Saturday night, but abruptly hung up before he could be asked about the content on his private Instagram account, which was shared with officers by a concerned follower, sources said.
Police officers who learned of the teacher’s IG story were upset that he apparently advocated another unprovoked attack on officers that were mourning a colleague that was ambushed during a domestic call.
“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,” a Manhattan cop told The Post.
“You have a city worker wishing physical harm or worse to fellow city workers during a solemn service,“ a Brooklyn cop said. “It is the ultimate act of cowardice.”
The Department of Education did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment Saturday night.
Earlier Saturday, actress Jacqueline Guzman was fired from her New York City theater company for her online comments about the funeral, which she called ” f–king ridiculous.”
