An embattled Brooklyn teaching assistant who was handcuffed during a protest at Columbia University last week has been fired, according to The Post.
James Parra, a fifth-grade paraprofessional at Brooklyn Arbor in Williamsburg who branded Israel a “racist” and “terrorist” state, announced his dismissal on social media Wednesday.
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“After 8 years of dedicated service, 6 months of doxxing and harassment, and Zionist parents making themselves the victims, my superintendent just a few moments ago terminated me from my position,” Parra, a 27-year-old woman, posted on Instagram.
“F-k these Zionists and f-k these administrators who are complicit and sympathizers with Zionism and genocide,” he said, accompanied by a photo of himself wearing a keffiyeh while a toddler cuddles him.
On April 22, Parra received a summons for refusing to leave the pro-Palestine protest area outside the university gates.
The former one-on-one special education paraprofessional attended LaGuardia Community College and Hunter College, according to LinkedIn and a GoFundMe campaign he launched to gather tuition money.
At a parent council meeting on April 18, Parra attacked his supervisor, Superintendent David Cintron, as a “spineless coward” for failing to shield him from the hostility he experienced after posting about Palestine — reportedly while on the job—iincluding photographs of himself wearing a keffiyeh.
Controversial Community Education Council 14 President Tajh Sutton responded to his rant, saying, “We love you, James,” and adding, “You are the best of this district.”
Sutton was admonished by city schools Chancellor David Banks in an April 16 letter for “improper conduct” in inserting herself in Parra’s personnel situation following his February suspension.
Parents and campaigners have been demanding Parra’s dismissal for months. In January alone, the DOE received over 850 complaints against him.
“There is no place in NYC or in the NYC Public Schools for anti-Jewish rhetoric or hatred of any kind,” said Tova Plaut, founder of the New York City Public Schools Alliance, to The Post.
The DOE verified Parra’s termination via email.
