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Woman Fired After Being Pictured Flipping Off President Donald Trump’s Motorcade

Woman Fired After Being Pictured Flipping Off President Donald Trump’s Motorcade

She says her blood started to boil when she saw the motorcade pass her by in Virginia and her workplace has since taken action.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

It's a divisive business, being a world leader, and there's no greater illustration of that than when they make public appearances. Some people cheerfully stand on the pavement, perhaps holding miniature figurines of the president or prime minister, maybe waving a big flag or chanting their name. Meanwhile others might simply make some obscene gestures and hurl more expletives than a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Whether the leader is in a motorcade or walking into a building, usually those actions mix in with the hundreds of other people also in attendance. But every now and then, someone stands out. For example, this cyclist who was passed by US President Donald Trump's motorcade.

Credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images /PA

Juli Briskman was riding her bike next to a Trump motorcade in Virginia, close to a golf resort owned by the President. She clearly doesn't seem to be a fan of the leader himself, or at least she's not into the idea of tons of cars zooming past her while she's cycling. But because she was pictured flipping the bird to the President, she's now lost her job.

The 50-year-old told Huffington Post she was fired from her position at Akima because the company said she had violated its social media policy by using the image as her Facebook and Twitter picture.

She explained: "They said, 'We're separating from you'. Basically, you cannot have 'lewd' or 'obscene' things in your social media. So they were calling flipping him off 'obscene'."

Despite her claims that she wasn't working when the picture was taken, and that her accounts did not mention who she worked for, Akima believed the image could have repercussions for the business. Speaking about what motivated her to make the gesture, Juli didn't mince her words. She said: "He (Trump) was passing by and my blood just started to boil.

Trump Motorcade
Trump Motorcade

Credit: PA

"I'm thinking, DACA recipients are getting kicked out. He pulled ads for open enrolment in Obamacare. Only one-third of Puerto Rico has power. I'm thinking, he's at the damn golf course again."

Juli says she's doing 'better than ever', because she got to say something about the Trump administration and spark a conversation. She's hoping to find new work in a place that she believes in, like Planned Parenthood or animal rights and welfare group PETA.

What happened with Juli has been happening across the world as people fail to understand the power of social media. A man pictured at an alt-right gathering at Charlottesville, Virginia, was fired after people on Twitter identified him and his place of work.

Angry social media users wrote to Top Dog restaurant in Berkley, California, and the company promptly released a statement to say Cole White was no longer working there.

Some people might understand that action, due to the inflammatory nature of the rally he attended, however, Rachel Burns was dismayed when she lost her job at the Park Hall residential care home. She had worked there for 21 years, but was let go when she uploaded a picture from a music night at the facility onto Facebook.

That sounds innocuous, but it was in direct violation of the company's social media policy. She told the BBC: "I know I shouldn't have put that picture up there, but should I really have had my career of 21 years taken away for one mistake? I wanted justice because I didn't believe what they had done to me was fair."

Rachel's story is one of a growing number of people left without a place to work because they didn't follow the strict social media guidelines. It might be worth checking your workplace's rules just in case you were thinking of putting up that funny meme.

Sources: Huffington Post, BBC

Featured Image Credit: Brendan Smialowski/ Getty Images ​

Topics: World News, US News, US President, Job, Donald Trump, Trump