An actor has been fired after complaining about road closures in New York for the funeral of police officer Jason Rivera. You can see the clip here:
Jacqueline Guzman was sacked by the theatre company she worked out after sharing a rant on TikTok about the city’s decision to close roads while 22-year-old Rivera was carried into St.
Patrick’s Cathedral on Thursday (27 January) for his wake ahead of the funeral on Friday.
In the clip, which has since been deleted, Guzman can be seen walking down an empty street while she says: "We do not need to shut down most of Lower Manhattan because one cop died for probably doing his job incorrectly.
"They kill people who are under 22 every single day for no good reason and we don’t shut down the city for them.
“Like this is f***ing ridiculous. This is f***ing ridiculous. What if somebody is having a heart attack in this area.
"Nobody can get to them because it’s all blocked off for one f***ing cop.”
Guzman’s former theatre company Face to Face Films has since released a statement saying it did not support what she had said and confirming that she no longer worked there.
Posting on Facebook the company said: “Face to Face Films has just been made aware of an insensitive video involving one of our members, Jacqueline Guzman.
"Face to Face Films does not support nor can condone these comments made about fallen Officer Rivera.
"As a result, she is no longer a member of our company."
Officers Rivera and Wilbert Mora, 27, were fatally shot while attending an incident involving a mother and her son in Harlem, New York, earlier this month.
Rivera had only been working in the force for a year.
His funeral saw hundreds of mourners, many of whom wore their police uniforms, line the streets to pay their respect.
Mora, who had worked as a police officer for four years, is set to be buried this week.
In response to Guzman’s video one Brooklyn cop told The New York Post that her comments were ‘totally disrespectful, not only to the NYPD but to all New York residents and to all humans'.
They added: "If this is the only way she can get publicity, I feel very sorry for her."
Featured Image Credit: TikTokTopics: US News
Claire Reid