In a recent TikTok video, Minneapolis teacher Marcia Howard referred to the stabbing of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin as “Shanksgiving.”
“We all heard about Shanksgiving: Derek Chauvin being stabbed 22 times in a federal prison,” Howard said while filming herself walking around in the area of Minneapolis known as George Floyd Square.
MFT59 Union Acting President and Minneapolis Teacher Marcia Howard calls the stabbing of Derek Chauvin "Shanksgiving" and uses "aerated" in the captions.#TheFallOfMinneapolis @AlphaNewsMN @lizcollin @MNThinkTank @GLpodcast @JonJustice @jdtcnt @WalterHudson @MNParentsFTW pic.twitter.com/jQmaLeGEjj
— LeftistsofMN (@LeftistsofMN) December 3, 2023
The captioning Howard placed on the video replaced the word “stabbing” with “aerated” when discussing Chauvin’s attack.
In another TikTok video, Howard said “thoughts and chairs” when referring to Chauvin’s stabbing. The video ends with a group shouting, “No justice, no streets. And we mean that s—.”
MFT59 Acting President Marcia Howard says, "Thoughts and Chairs," after hearing about the stabbing of Derek Chauvin in federal prison.#TheFallofMinneapolis @AlphaNewsMN @GLpodcast @JonJustice @jdtcnt @WalterHudson @lizcollin @CrimeWatchMpls @RebsBrannon @realakkamara pic.twitter.com/HfNDZm3WiK
— LeftistsofMN (@LeftistsofMN) November 25, 2023
“Thoughts and chairs” is reportedly a reference to a brawl that took place in Montgomery, Ala., earlier this year, where a man used a folding chair as a weapon.
Howard is a teacher at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, and is the acting president of the Minneapolis teachers union, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT), which is an affiliate of Education Minnesota.
MFT recently faced criticism for a resolution deemed “anti-semitic and hostile” in support of Gaza. Howard has also been involved in the occupation of George Floyd Square since 2020.
Minneapolis Public Schools told Alpha News that it has policies in place regarding employee social media accounts.
“Minneapolis Public Schools shares concerns about specific employees with the employees’ supervisor for review. When concerns involve an employee’s personal social media accounts, we must respect their First Amendment rights,” Minneapolis Public Schools said. “Those rights are not without limit, and we would follow our discipline process when warranted.”
Chauvin, who is reportedly recovering, was stabbed 22 times on Black Friday by a member of the Mexican Mafia street gang and a former FBI informant.
His family didn’t hear from him or obtain any updates about his condition for over a week after the stabbing took place at a federal prison in Tucson, Ariz. The stabbing also took place nine days following the release of the new documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis.”
Hayley Feland
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
