Most actions, whether responsible or reckless, thoughtful or thoughtless, have consequences just like how crimes should have corresponding punishments. A teacher in Texas who pulled a controversial, and many say highly-irresponsible, stunt of demonstrating to her students how she would have loved to 'assassinate' Trump is probably learning the link between action and consequence, if not crime and punishment, the personal, direct and hard way.
Payal Modi, the " star" of the now infamous viral video who " shot" an image of President Donald Trump on the white projector in her class during the President's Inauguration has been placed on administrative leave, or practically a suspension, while the incident is now being investigated by officials of the Dallas Independent School District.
Modi teaches art class at Adamson High School. During Trump's Inauguration, she pointed a water gun at an image of the 45th President of the U.S. and made motions of pulling the trigger and "shooting" the president several times while muttering " Die! Die!". Modi even posted the said video on her Instagram account with the caption " watching the #inauguration in my classroom be like…", and used the hashtags #no, #stop, #denial, #squirtgun, #hypocrisy, #powerless, #saveusa, #teachthembetter, #atleastitsfriday. Modi has since deleted said post.
The 8-seconder video has since gone viral and was viewed by hundreds of thousands of people. An overwhelming majority found the video disturbing, while many called the teacher to task and even asked for her suspension or even firing prompting school district officials to mount an investigation.
Some speculated that the teacher, though obviously anti-Trump, was merely joking about the matter, and what she did was just a form of political commentary and protected by free speech. But both traditional media commentary and opinions shared on social media by ordinary citizens speak of strong disagreement, and even condemnation, for the teacher's irresponsible stunt, most saying it's never right- and will never be right- to even joke about assassinating the president of the U.S., even if it is somebody they don't like or didn't vote for. The fact that Modi is a teacher to young minds- a job and vocation that requires high moral responsibility- made her act even more appalling as it sends the wrong message and symbol to the students on so many levels.
Some also said that Modi's behavior can be seen as doubly reckless, even assuming it was only a 'joke', in a time where the world is facing strong terrorism threats, and the fact that in the nation's history former president JFK's assassination always comes painfully to mind whenever there are such talks as U.S. presidents and assassination plots. Many netizens said that what Modi did was simply " sick", because it is never okay to pretend to be killing someone, and that the POTUS deserves to be respected, no matter what one's political views are.
Unwittingly, the consequences Modi faces now and other possible implications of her actions- whether a suspension or eventually being fired from her job- will serve as a better lesson to all Americans, much more than the cheap stunt of pretending to kill the president she tried to
"teach" her class.
Good article. This teacher should not only be fired but should be charged by the secret service! This is not a joke it's a terroristic threat to our president. The fact that she's on PAID leave is disgusting!