A video of a Florida high school teacher reprimanding a student for declining to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance led to his dismissal.
By Saturday, a TikTok video of the incident had received more than 1.4 million views.
“You are gonna sit there on your butt?” the unnamed teacher at Bradenton High School angrily asked the student. “If you want to do something, just get up and do it … I will defend my country to the very end.”
The student responded, “I won’t hurt you.”
Then the instructor instructed the student to “go back … where you are from. Mexico or Guatemala? Where?”
The teacher expressed shock when the student said he was born in the United States.
“You were born here? And you won’t stand up for the flag?”
A Manatee County Schools representative informed Insider that the teacher had been fired and that an investigation was ongoing.
“The School District of Manatee County strongly condemns any language or behavior that degrades, humiliates or insults any individuals — most especially the young people, families and community we have the privilege of serving,” the district said in a statement.
