What happens when people appoint themselves “coronavirus vigilantes” and patrol the streets. Well, in Trenton, New Jersey, it means a public school teacher can verbally attack kids playing at a park.
The teacher, Nicole Griggs, was walking her dog when she came upon a group of teenagers playing football. Rather than talking with them calmly or using her standing as a teacher to influence the teens, Griggs went off.
At one point, Griggs tells the kids that she hopes they all “get coronavirus” and then “die a long, painful death.”
Griggs is a math teacher with 15 years of service in the district.
A Disturbing Confrontation: Teacher Caught on Video
As Griggs verbally assaulted the teens from behind a fence, they filmed her. The video shows her asking if she needed to yell “loud enough so you can hear me over your music. Park’s closed. You will get arrested if the cops come.”
“Park’s closed. The whole area. Get it through your thick head. You are the reason we are in this situation. You are the problem, not the solution,” Griggs said.
When she saw the teens recording her tirade, Griggs doubled down.
“Go ahead keep recording. Who are you going to show it to? Post me on social media,” she yelled. “You’re the idiot doing the wrong thing. I’m just trying to save your ass and save your life. But die, OK? I hope both of you get the coronavirus. I hope you both die a long, painful death.”
The students obliged, posting to Snapchat and Tik Tok. “Y’all Mrs. Grigggs is losing her damn mind how tf is she a teacher #coronavirus,” the caption read.
“When she said that, I was shocked,” one student later said. “I didn’t know someone would say something like that, especially a teacher. She should be smarter with her words.”
The teenagers left the park without further incident. They now saw they were wrong for playing in public during the quarantine.
The Fallout
Mayor Jeff Martin viewed the video and commented that nobody should be “wishing death or harm on people.”
“This is a very serious thing. We’ve got at least 50 people who have actually died from it, 50 families. It’s not something to joke around about. Teacher or not, it’s unacceptable.”
Superintendent Scott Rocco promises a full investigation. “We will address the issue immediately.”