A New York professor who tweeted that teaching “future dead cops” is a “privilege” – provoking outrage from the city’s police leaders – was placed on administrative leave on Saturday by his employer.
Michael Isaacson, an adjunct professor at CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice and self-proclaimed anti-fascist activist, was disciplined because of the three-week-old tweet that caught fire after Isaacson’s Thursday appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” His Aug. 23 tweet said:
Some of y'all might think it sucks being an anti-fascist teaching at John Jay College but I think it's a privilege to teach future dead cops
“Michael Issacson harbors total disdain for the active and future police officers that he teaches at John Jay College,” Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said in a Friday press release.
John Jay College President Karol V. Mason called Isaacson’s comments “abhorrent” and the “antithesis” of an academic institution that trains future law enforcement in a statement. Although she said that professors have a right to free speech and academic freedom, “expressions of hate or intimidation are not welcome in that civil discourse.”