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Bronx Middle School Teacher Fined For Showing ISIS Beheading To Students

By Monique Harris
Published on: 16:33 PST, Mar 20, 2016

Alexis Nazario, a Bronx Middle School teacher, has been fined $300 for showing an ISIS decapitation video to her students. The Veteran South Bronx Academy for Applied Media teacher aired the sickening video in October, 2014.

When the city educational department was notified they tried to fire Nazario. Education officials pulled her from the classroom and reassigned her to their administrative office. Her reassignment ended in November, 2015, after her independent arbitrator refused to fire her.

“[Nazario] made a mistake in not previewing the video and falling to inform the principal or getting permission to show it,” the presiding arbitrator said.

Nazario admits showing the tape was wrong. She was let off with a $300 fine with her acknowledgment.

According to the New York Post, investigators spoke to three eighth graders who watched the video. The video contained a man holding a knife to the neck of a kneeling man in a prison-like orange jumpsuit.

“I’m scared at what I saw. Ms. Nazario showed the beheading video and I was scared,” one girl told a school staff member.

According to the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation, Nazario initially blamed the students. She reported one of them searched for the video on a classroom computer that was attached to the overhead projector in her home room. She allowed her students to watch the video but acknowledged that the overall responsibility was hers.

However, students told investigators that Nazario looked up the video as part of a lesson on Iraq. One student notes she told them the video depicts “real life.”

The video was not her first incident. The Department of Education wanted her fired on that offense and two unrelated offenses.

“This teacher demonstrated a complete lack of judgement, and this incident betrayed our schools’ promise to provide a safe and supportive environment,” Department of Education spokeswoman Devora Kaye stated.

Nazario still works with the district, but works as a rotating substitute at different schools. She continues to draw on her salary of more than $105,000 per year.

ISIS has been involved in several terrorist attacks as of late. They have threatened wealthy individuals, including Mark Zuckerberg.

David Carlson, a professor of religious studies at Franklin College, believes that ISIS target is to incite fear.

ISIS is prevalent in Iraq and Syria. United States Secretary of State John Kerry declared on Thursday that the actions of their terror regime is close to genocide. That was the second time in history that genocide has been attached to an ongoing crisis by a group.

The group records many of their decapitations and many of the videos have been leaked online by ISIL members to their social media accounts. Many of the decapitations are performed by Mohammed Emwazi, nicknamed by media as “Jihadi John,” who was reportedly killed in a strike last year.

Many of the videos have received worldwide coverage and have attracted international scrutiny. Political scientist Max Abrahms posited that ISIL may use beheadings as a means of distinguishing themselves from Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Nonetheless, the videos have very strong messages. Although the video shown to students blacked out during the actual decapitation, students saw his severed head fall to the ground. Many believe the context was simply inappropriate for the middle schoolers.

Nazario has escaped termination this time at the recommendation of her arbitrator, but her actions are still resonating with her former students.

[Image from Getty Images]

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