A teacher who warned Donald Trump’s supporters not to start a fight with her or they would lose and die says she would consider a more peaceful approach.
Annie Dunleavy, 30, resigned from Chapman Elementary School in Cheshire, Connecticut, amid backlash over her Snapchat video.
She went viral after the video she posted on a private channel in which she promised to leave Trump supporters “on a stretcher forever” if they “tested their gangster on her.”
Dunleavy was placed on temporary leave from the school as the institution investigated her post-election tirade, and quit shortly thereafter.
Losing her dream job gave Dunleavy some clarity about expressing her political beliefs in a healthier and more productive way.
Her local News 8 asked if she would consider “running for office or getting involved in something that might lead to change” instead of shouting online.
“Yes, I think that (venting on social media) was my first thought about how to make a change and how to share my opinion, and that’s clearly not the right time to do that,” she said.
In her video, Donleavy claims that the people she cares about “won’t be safe in America,” so “neither are you.”
Annie Dunleavy, 30, of Wallingford, felt heartbroken after resigning from Chapman Elementary School, where she worked as a Special Ed teacher, after receiving a huge backlash. “I was in a moment of great emotion and I shouldn’t have posted,” she said
“Just because you win doesn’t mean we don’t remember who you voted for. You’re not clear…please, please don’t test your gangster on me because you’ll end up on a stretcher – gone forever,” she said.
“(I’m) so serious that no one talks to me unless you want to wave – if you want to fight, text me, call me, whatever, anyone else stay the fuck out of my face.
“If you literally voted for Trump, please delete me, block me, get rid of everything – or come to me so I know what’s going on and I can deal with you however I see fit,” he added them to it.
She then ended her tirade by asking Trump supporters to “come forward… or leave, please, (there’s) the door.”
Donleavy said after the video went viral that she did indeed have many Trump supporters contact her saying they would fight her — especially men.
Elsewhere in the interview, she explained that the rant was not intended as a threat, but she understood how some people could interpret it that way.
“I hope people know I’m not a danger, I would never hurt anyone, I never hurt anyone unless my safety was at risk – and that was the point I was trying to get across,” she said.
“But I completely understand why it was taken differently.”
Dunleavy went viral after a video she posted to a private Snapchat channel — in which she said she would leave Trump supporters “on a stretcher” if they “tested their gangster on her” — made waves online
What the teacher said she wanted to convey was how she believed a second Trump presidency would “give people permission in their heads to commit violence against women.”
‘I actually just wanted to say: I’m not going down without a fight. “I will fight for myself and if anyone tried to hurt me, I would do what I had to do to protect myself,” she said.
‘It all came out in no time aggressive tone and a very aggressive demeanor because of the emotional state I was in at the time.”
Donleavy explained that she was overwhelmed by sexist comments from Trump supporters as they celebrated his victory.
“I saw a lot of men saying basically they won, women lost, we will always be held down,” she said.
“There were comments about, it’s your body, our choice now, you’ll never be in control of your own body, a lot of comments like that about women having the right to their bodies.”
The special education teacher said she posted the video to a private Snapchat group and never intended for the public to see it.
“I was in a moment of great emotion and I shouldn’t have posted… The message came across the wrong way,” she said.
“The message came across the wrong way,” she said. What the teacher said she wanted to convey was how she believed a second Trump presidency would “give people permission in their minds to commit violence against women.”
Donleavy said her poor decisions cost her a dream job and that she hasn’t slept or eaten well in the aftermath of the video going viral.
‘It is my lifelong dream to become a teacher. “I consider those kids my kids, and they fill that for me, and it’s so fulfilling and so rewarding,” she said.
“And I really know that what people see right now, I don’t look like that person, but I would do absolutely anything to help any child and family in need.”
Following her firing, Cheshire Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Solan said the comments on her video did not reflect the school system’s position.
Cheshire Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Solan said in a statement: ‘The comments on that video did not reflect the position of our school system’
“They were hurtful, deeply concerning and ultimately undermined the trust our community has placed in us,” he said.
“Every student and every family has the right to attend our schools, free from concerns about political bias, let alone their safety.”
Cheshire Board of Education chairwoman Samantha Rosenberg also released a statement, writing: ‘The Board of Education is united in its assessment that the teacher’s conduct is reprehensible and unacceptable, and we are shocked and deeply offended by the statements in the video.’
Despite the threats Donleavy made in the video, Cheshire Police will not be pursuing criminal charges against her.