A Brooklyn teaching assistant who was handcuffed and embattled during last week’s protests at Columbia University has been fired, it has been learned.
James Parra, a fifth-class paraprofessional from Brooklyn Arbor in Williamsburg who called Israel a “racist” and “terrorist” state, shared his ouster on social media Wednesday.
“After eight years of dedicated service, six months of leaking personal information, harassment, and Zionist parents making themselves victims, the superintendent just fired me from my position.” Parra, 27, wrote on Instagram.
“Fuck Zionism and the Zionists and administrators who are complicit and sympathetic to genocide,” he added, along with a photo of himself wearing a keffiyeh and hugging a child.
Parra received a summons on April 22 for refusing to leave the campus gates during a pro-Palestinian protest.
The former one-on-one special education paraprofessional attended LaGuardia Community College and Hunter College, which he started to raise money for tuition, according to LinkedIn and GoFundMe.
At an April 18 parent council meeting, Parra called her boss, Superintendent David Cintron, a “spineless coward” who was supposedly on duty for not protecting her from the backlash she received after posting about Palestine. It included a photo of himself wearing it while working in Palestine. Keffiyeh.
Controversial District Education Council 14 president Taj Sutton responded to his rant by saying, “We love you, James,” adding, “You’re the best in this district.” .
Mr. Sutton was reprimanded in an April 16 letter by City Schools Superintendent David Banks for “inappropriate conduct” for his involvement in Mr. Parra’s personnel matters following his suspension in February. .
Parents and activists have been demanding Parra’s removal for months. The DOE received more than 850 complaints about him in January alone.
“There is no place for anti-Semitic rhetoric or hatred of any kind in New York City or in New York City public schools,” Tovah Plaut, founder of the New York City Public Schools Alliance, told the Post.
The DOE confirmed Parra’s dismissal in an email.
Parra did not respond to requests for comment.
