*The white woman who was involved in a physical altercation with a Black female security guard the night before the Capitol riots, has lost her job.
In an ironic twist of events, Therese Duke was terminated after her daughter exposed her on social media.
Earlier this week, video went viral showing Duke and an angry, racist group of pro-Trump protestors harassing Ashanti Smith, a Black security guard working at Black Lives Matter Plaza in D.C.
We previously reported, Smith, 28, said she was on a break from her job nearby when she saw the mob forming and got closer to take pictures. She said that’s when a female Trump supporter asked who she was there to support, President Trump or President-Elect Joe Biden. Smith said neither, and the woman accused her of being with Antifa.
That’s when things escalated. Other Trump supporters nearby began hurling racial slurs and she was swarmed. In the video, Duke tries to grab Smith’s phone and Smith proceeds to punch her in the face once, leaving her bloodied.
READ MORE: Black Security Guard Suspended for Punching MAGA Rioter in Viral Video Speaks Out (Watch)
— UMass Memorial (@umassmemorial) January 8, 2021
Smith said she was pulled to safety behind the nearby police barricade seen in the video, but at least two of the cops were adamant that she not stay with them and sent her back out into the crowd over the objections of officers that pulled her to safety.
After the incident, Smith said she lost her job and is now facing criminal charges.
Here’s more from MadameNoire:
Duke’s daughter, Helena, revealed her mother’s identity. She called out the hypocrisy of her mom admonishing her for wanting to attend Black Lives Matter protests in the summer, only to get caught up in the chaos of pro-Trump demonstrations. In an interview with CBC Radio show, As It Happens, Helena said her mom had been let go from her job as a healthcare provider at UMass Memorial Health Care hospital in Worcester, Mass. because of her involvement.
She said her employment was severed “because she does work at a hospital, and she obviously went to a protest with many people and she wasn’t wearing a mask.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Helena said her mother had been a Democrat for the majority of her life.
“She actually has been a Democrat her whole life up until the Trump presidency. And it was unsettling seeing how quickly she had changed to a radically right ideology,” Helena, who identifies as a “liberal lesbian,” told As It Happens. “The things that she was saying really didn’t make sense. A lot of them were conspiracy theories, almost a delusional kind of mindset. And I think it was just her belief system entirely was focused around what President Trump was saying.”
UMass Memorial confirmed her firing in the following statement: “Over the past 24 hours we have received numerous expressions of concern through social media regarding a UMass Memorial caregiver who many have been involved in this week’s violent event at the nation’s capitol. The employee in question is no longer a part of our organization.”
Smith, meanwhile, continues to receive an outpouring of love and support. A GoFundMe page was launched to help cover possible legal fees, and has raised more than $173,000 so far.
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