A Connecticut teacher who went viral for threatening to “fight” Trump supporters and land them on a “stretcher, gone forever” in a social media video has resigned and made a tearful apology, saying her “message came off wrong.”
Annie Dunleavy, who was a special education teacher at Chapman Elementary School in Cheshire until earlier this week, came under fire for posting a profane rant on Snapchat after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory:
Claiming that “people of color, and poor people, and gay people” were no longer “gonna be safe in America,” the 30-year-old teacher pointed at the camera and said, “Neither the fuck are you guys.”
“Just because you won doesn’t mean we don’t remember who the fuck you voted for, you’re not in the clear… please, please don’t test your gangster on me because you will end on a stretcher, gone forever,” she continued.
“[I’m] so serious, nobody fucking talk to me unless you wanna swing. If you wanna fight, text me call me, whatever — anybody else stay the fuck outta my face,” the teacher raved on.
Dunleavy then went on to tell Trump voters to “please delete me, block me, get rid of everything of me — or step to me, so that I know what’s up and I can handle you how I see fit.”
The clip, originally exposed by one of Dunleavy’s Snapchat friends, has since been viewed nearly nine million times after being shared by Libs of TikTok on X.
After Cheshire Public Schools superintendent Jeffrey Solan said that Dunleavy had been removed from the campus pending an investigation, her resignation was announced on Wednesday:
“The comments on that video did not reflect the position of our school system,” Solan said in an email to parents obtained by Libs of TikTok. “They were hurtful, deeply concerning, and ultimately undermined the faith that our community has placed in us. Every student and family has the right to attend our schools free from the concern of political prejudice, let alone their safety.”
“As a leader of this school system, I feel terrible for the angst that this has caused our community and I look forward to returning our focus on the great work that our educators perform every day,” Solan added.
In a television interview with WTNH News 8, Dunleavy got emotional while trying to explain herself:
“I was in a moment of high emotion, and I shouldn’t have posted,” the former teacher said. “The message came off wrong, which was if this is going to give people the permission in their minds to enact violence against women, I wanted to say, I’m not going down without a fight. I will fight for myself, and if someone was to try to hurt me, I would protect myself.”
“It’s my life’s dream to be a teacher,” Dunleavy continued with a shaky voice. “I consider those kids to be my kids, and they fill that for me, and it’s just so fulfilling, so rewarding, and I really know that what people see right now, I don’t look like that person, but I truly would do anything to help any child and family in need.”
While the Cheshire Police Department confirmed that it was investigating Dunleavy’s threats in a Tuesday press release, it told NBC Connecticut on Thursday that no criminal charges will be brought forward.