Government contractor fired for flipping bird at Donald Trump's motorcade
'They said, ‘We’re separating from you,' says sacked marketing executive
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Your support makes all the difference.A woman has been fired from her job after an image of her trailing President Donald Trump’s motorcade on her bike to give him the middle finger went viral.
Juli Briskman attracted headlines around the world after a White House photographer snapped her cycling past President Trump’s motorcade as it left the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia to flip him the bird last month.
Despite the fact the motorcade then overtook the 50-year-old she eventually caught up and gave Mr Trump the one-finger greeting again.
Ms Briskman has now said she was fired from her job at government contractor Akima LCC where she worked in marketing and communications.
She said that after the image surfaced her bosses informed her she had breached the company’s social media policy because she chose to make the photo her profile picture.
“They said, ‘We’re separating from you,‘” the marketing executive told the Huffington Post.
“Basically, you cannot have ‘lewd’ or ‘obscene’ things on your social media. So they were calling flipping him off ‘obscene.’ ”
Recounting the incident which took place on her usual cycling route, Ms Briskman said she became incensed when she set eyes on Mr Trump's motorcade coming up beside her.
“He was passing by and my blood just started to boil,” she said. “I’m thinking, DACA recipients are getting kicked out. He pulled ads for open enrollment in ObamaCare.”
She added: "Only one third of Puerto Rico has power. I’m thinking, he’s at the damn golf course again. I flipped off the motorcade a number of times."
She insisted that she does not regret her decision and said she was pleased to be a symbol of resistance towards the president, adding: "In some ways, I'm doing better than ever."
She said: “I’m angry about where our country is right now. I am appalled. This was an opportunity for me to say something.”
Ms Briskman, who said she had been in touch with the American Civil Liberties Union about the case, said she was not wearing anything which linked her to the company while on her cycling trip.
“The motorcade had to slow and the cyclist caught up, still offering the finger, before turning off in a different direction. Motorcade is now gathering speed and heading for DC," said the White House pool report at the time.
Social media users applauded the image of the cyclist with messages such as “Heroine!” and “Her2020”.
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