His husband heckled Ivanka Trump on a flight, but supporters of President-elect Donald Trump want a Hunter College professor to be held accountable for the incident, too.
As of Wednesday morning, more than 5,500 people have signed a petition on Change.org that calls for Matt Lasner, a professor of urban studies and planning, to be fired from the Upper East Side university. A call to Hunter College by Metro was not immediately returned. Lasner and his husband, Dan Goldstein, were removed from a JetBlue flight from JFK Airport that was headed to San Francisco when Goldstein became irate that the future first daughter and her family were seated behind him. A witness told Reuters that Goldstein told a crewmember that Trump’s family “ruin our country, now try (to) ruin our flight!”
Lasner, in a since-deleted tweet, wrote earlier that, “Ivanka and Jared at JFK T5, flying commercial. My husband chasing them down to harass them. #banalityofevil.”
After Lasner and Goldsteinwere removed from the flight, Lasner wrote on his now-deleted Twitter account that “@JetBlue kicked us off our flight when a flt (sic) attendant overheard my husband expressing displeasure about flying w/ Trumps.” Change.org petitioners want “disciplinary action” taken against Lasner.
“Someone like Mr. Lasner, who would harass a mother and her child simply trying to go about their day, does not deserve the honor of teaching,” they wrote. “The fact that he tried to cover up and change the story around to avoid the consequences of his actions is also a testament to his character. He is NOT a good example for our youth.
Petition calls for firing Hunter College professor whose husband heckled Ivanka Trump on plane
Reuters
