School employee removed from campus after shouting ‘build the wall’ at striking teachers

An employee with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) was removed from a middle school after yelling “Build the wall! All you guys wouldn’t be here” at a group of teachers on strike.

Annette Arvizu, a senior technician at a middle school, was identified in the now-viral video confronting a group of picketers from her car, BuzzFeed News reported Thursday.

{mosads}The video was posted by one of the striking teachers, according to BuzzFeed.

“You’re protesting for nothing,” she says in the video. “I’m so glad you guys aren’t getting paid. I’m getting paid.”

Arvizu tried exiting a gated parking lot at South Gate Middle School and rolled down her window, arguing with the protesting teachers and using rude hand gestures.

“Build the wall,” she said with a smile. “All you guys wouldn’t be here.”

The picketers begin to question her after she rolls up her window again.

“Racist much?” A woman shouts.

“What are you? Italian?” Another laughs.

Data from LAUSD shows that 43 percent of K-12 teachers in the district are Latino. 

LAUSD officials told Buzzfeed News in a statement that the employee in the video was removed from campus and the district is “conducting a full investigation into the incident.”

“This behavior is inexcusable and directly contradicts the mission and values of the Los Angeles Unified School District,” a spokesperson told the outlet.

A spokesperson declined to elaborate on whether the employee was fired or suspended.

Arvizu later told Fox 11 news that the teachers were blocking her from exiting the parking lot.

The heated exchange was the result of mounting tensions, Arvizu said. The employee, who said she is half Hispanic, insisted that her comments were not racist.

“I said it out of being funny because they are now closing the gate, keeping me safe from them and that was the purpose of channeling the wall, in that respect,” she said. “The safety concern was there.”

An estimated 30,000 teachers are participating in the ongoing strike over pay raises, class sizes and inadequate school staffing.

The strike, which began on Monday, is the first in Los Angeles in nearly 30 years.

An estimated 400 substitute teachers and 2,000 reassigned administrators are continuing to teach classes in the nation’s second largest district.