High school coach fired because he is police officer

FPI / July 28, 2020

Cancel culture came for a high school football coach in Portland.

Ken Duilio said he was let go as coach of Cleveland High School after the leftist mob demanded he be removed because of his position as a sergeant with the Portland Police Department.

According to The Oregonian, Duilio said the mob distributed flyers which detailed two use-of-force incidents involving Duilio that reportedly took place more than two decades ago.

In a 2001 incident, a gang-related attack on Duilio and two fellow officers resulted in the hospitalization of two of the other police officers. Duilio was uninjured in the incident.

A second incident, which also took place in 2001, saw Duilio mistakenly shoot a man who he believed to be a suspect. It turned out that the man was a Good Samaritan who had managed to disarm a man with a gun at a local convenience store. The victim survived the shot and received a $200,000 settlement. Despite the accident, a Multnomah County grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing with regard to Duilio's actions.

But the flyers which were distributed by the leftist mob apparently drew enough attention that the school district called the coach in for a conference to discuss the incidents.

Duilio, who has been on the police force for 23 years, said that when he showed up for the conference it was apparent that the administration had already made up its mind to remove him from his coaching position.

He said that the district told him that they "didn't see a path moving forward because of pressure they're getting" over the flyers. The district reportedly asked Duilio to resign on two occasions, but he said he refused both times.

Last week, Portland Public Schools Athletic Director Marshall Haskins told Duilio that the district would not be renewing his coaching contract at the high school.

Haskins claimed that the district merely decided to "go in a different direction," telling the Oregonian: "We don't make decisions based on pressure from parents or outside people."

Duilio begs to differ.

"It's unjust from whoever is leading this," he told the Oregonian. "[Portland Public Schools] still had a role in it. They could have stood up to them. I'm at a loss for words, frankly. I love working with the kids. ... Potentially, someday, I'll be back."

Free Press International