‘An inspiration to us all’: GoFundMe for woman sacked after flipping off Donald Trump raises $120,000

JULI Briskman lost her job after becoming an unwitting internet sensation. But she’s just had a massive payday.

Juli Briskman gestures with her middle finger at a motorcade containing US President Donald Trump in Sterling, Virginia. The obscene gesture, captured on October 28, quickly went viral. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFPSource:AFP

A WOMAN who lost her job after a photo of her giving the middle finger to Donald Trump went viral has found herself nearly $120,000 richer.

Juli Briskman was sacked from her role at government contractor Akima LLC earlier this month over the photo, which captured the 50-year-old’s “gut reaction” as she was cycling alongside the United States President’s motorcade in Northern Virginia on October 28.

“He was passing by and my blood just started to boil,” she told The Huffington Post. “I’m thinking, DATA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival] 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. I flipped off the motorcade a number of times.”

After the photo made headlines around the world, Ms Briskman was called into a meeting where she was sacked for violating the company’s social media guidelines relating to “obscene” behaviour.

“They said: ‘We’re separating from you,’” Ms Briskman said. “Basically, you cannot have ‘lewd’ or ‘obscene’ things in your social media. So they were calling flipping him off ‘obscene’.”

The company’s social media policy says activity “that contains discriminatory, obscene, malicious or threatening content, is knowingly false, [creates] a hostile work environment, or similar inappropriate or unlawful conduct will not be tolerated and will be subject to discipline up to an [sic] including termination of employment”.

Ms Briskman, who had been with the company for six months, said she pointed out that she was not at work when the incident happened and nothing on her social media pages mentioned her employer.

News of her sacking sparked outrage, with many questioning why she was being punished for exercising her First Amendment rights to free speech. In just over one week, a GoFundMe campaign launched to support Ms Briskman has raised more than $US90,000 ($118,000).

“Juli Briskman is an inspiration to us all,” wrote fundraising campaign organiser Rob Mello. “This week we learned that she was fired from her employer for exercising her first amendment rights. You can show your support by donating here.”

On Tuesday, Ms Briskman thanked supporters. “After I was terminated from my job on October, 31, I was driving home and as you can imagine, my thoughts were racing,” she wrote.

“I never imagined that my ‘one-finger salute’ to the presidential motorcade and its occupant would cost me my job. The actions of my company were swift and unexpected.

“I was shocked and worried about many things: How and when to tell my children? (My daughter’s birthday was days away and of course I wanted her to have a happy one.) How would I pay for healthcare? How much money do I have in my savings to cover our mortgage and general living expenses in Northern Virginia and how long will it last? How long will it take to land another job?

“This is the short list. Through your very generous donations, many of those heavy burdens have been lifted. I am not sure what the future holds, but I am buoyed by your support. For now, I can just say THANK YOU and promise to be a good steward of these funds.”

Akima LLC is a holding company for a range of government and commercial service providers, including “information technology, data communications, systems engineering, software development, cyber security, space operations, aviation, construction, facility management, fabrication and logistics”, according to its website.

The company has not responded to requests for comment.

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