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Man rips down Black Lives Matter posters, tells woman who confronts him to 'go f*** yourself.' Now he's out of a job.
June 17, 2020
Michael Henkel had been a writ server supervisor for Philadelphia Family Court
A writ server supervisor for Philadelphia Family Court was fired Monday after he was caught on video ripping down Black Lives Matter posters from a park fence, PhillyVoice reported.
Michael Henkel was terminated for multiple violations of the state court's Code of Conduct and the Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Policy, the outlet said, citing a statement from First Judicial District spokesperson Martin O'Rourke.
"The Court takes this incident very seriously and believes Mr. Henkel's behavior, as shown in the video, is egregious and totally unacceptable for an employee of the Courts," O'Rourke noted, according to PhillyVoice.
What happened in the video?
In an Instagram video, Henkel was seen ripping down Black Lives Matter signs from the fence surrounding Columbus Square Park and engaging in a contentious chat with a woman who confronted him about his actions.
The woman — who isn't seen in the clip — tells Henkel that the park isn't his property.
"I know, it's the city," Henkel replies. "I pay for this … yeah, my taxes pay for this place ... just so you know, so I can do whatever I want."
When she questions that assertion, he replies, "You're f***in' right I can, and I'm always around here, too."
As Henkel walks away with the signs, the woman tells him, "Black lives matter!"
Henkel's reply? "Not to me they don't. You can call it anyway you want. You should go f*** yourself, though."
Here's the clip. Content warning: language
The incident occurred Sunday afternoon, WPVI-TV reported.
The posters had been hung Friday during a demonstration calling for police-free schools, PhillyVoice said.
What else happened after the signs were torn down?
Less than 12 hours after Henkel tore the signs down, witnesses told WPVI that a resident was hanging up an anti-racism poster on the same fence and was allegedly attacked in the process.
"He ripped the plastic sign off and then whipped it at my face," the victim said, according to the station.
But on Monday night, residents put up more anti-racism posters on the fence, WPVI said.
"You take one sign down, we're going to put 10 more up," Timothy Kalosky Jr., told the station.
Matthew McKelvey added to WPVI, "No matter how many signs he tears down, we're going to be out here every day putting these signs back up."
Court supervisor caught on camera tearing down 'Black Lives Matter' signsyoutu.be
Anything else?
Philadelphia has been in the headlines of late in relation to the George Floyd protests:
- As protesters last week beheaded, toppled, and vandalized statues and monuments across America, Philly folk raging against racism ignorantly vandalized the statue of abolitionist Matthias Baldwin outside City Hall, spray-painting "murderer" and "colonizer" on its pedestal.
- A large group of south Philadelphia residents last weekend guarded the Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza from potential vandalism — and used bats, golf clubs, sticks, and guns to do so. That statue was boarded up Tuesday while officials consider its removal, PhillyVoice said in a separate story.
- About 100 residents of the city's Fishtown neighborhood patrolled their streets with baseball bats, hammers, and shovels as nationwide rioting hit a fever pitch earlier this month.
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Sr. Editor, News
Dave Urbanski is a senior editor for Blaze News.
DaveVUrbanski
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