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		</div><h6><span style="color: #524141;"><strong>&#8216;The most trouble [is] coming from where?&#8217; &#8216;From black people… because they don&#8217;t want to work, they steal, they kill, they [do] drugs, everything comes from [black people] — the majority&#8221; &#8211; Boris Vaksman, June 3 </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #524141;"><strong>St. John&#8217;s University, NY, fired the assistant fencing coach Wednesday, after video of his racist meltdown emerged online</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #524141;"><strong>Vaksman who was born in Ukraine goes on to say Abraham Lincoln &#8216;made a mistake&#8217; by abolishing slavery</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #524141;"><strong>The footage came from a video conference call on June 3 in which Vaksman was supposed to be conducting a youth coaching session with a fencing club </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color: #524141;"><strong>Vaksman who previously worked for the US Fencing Association has been an assistant coach at the school for 14 years</strong></span></h6>
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<h6 class="mobile-gallery-icon"><strong> <span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;"><img class="alignnone wp-image-349097" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Boris-Vaksman-2.jpg" alt="Boris Vaksman 2" width="614" height="731" /><br />
</span>‘Lincoln made a mistake’&#8230; by abolishing slavery: Elite NY school St. John’s fired fencing coach Boris Vaksman years after video emerged of his epic racist tirade on social media</strong></h6>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">St. John&#8217;s University has fired an assistant fencing coach after video emerged of him making racist comments about black people Boris Vaksman, a longtime assistant coach at the Queens school’s elite fencing team, also said that black people are responsible for most social ills in leaked audio from a Zoom call recorded on June 3, and posted anonymously to Instagram on Wednesday.<br />
The &#8216;majority&#8217; of black people kill, steal, or do drugs and President Abraham Lincoln &#8216;made a mistake&#8217; by abolishing slavery, Vaksman said during a virtual coaching session was publicly leaked,<br />
Boris Vaksman was fired by the Queens, New York college on Wednesday after video of his racist tirade surfaced on social media. It was first posted anonymously, and then later reposted by Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad.<br />
The footage came from a video conference call on June 3 in which Vaksman reportedly, was supposed to be conducting a youth coaching session..<br />
&#8216;Because the most trouble [is] coming from where?&#8217; Vaksman asked in the video. &#8216;From black people… because they don&#8217;t want to work, they steal, they kill, they [do] drugs, everything comes from [black people] — the majority.&#8217;<br />
The grinning Vaksman continued, adding that &#8216;Lincoln made a mistake&#8217; by abolishing slavery.<br />
<span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">St. John&#8217;s University confirmed that Vaksman was terminated on Wednesday.</span><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">According to multiple current fencers who have studied under Vaksman, the coach made the comments during a youth coaching session with Fencer’s Club, an elite private fencing club located in Manhattan that serves as a key development ground for college and Olympic fencing. </span><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">T</span><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">he audio leaked on Instagram was corroborated with video of Vaksman making the same shocking comments.</span></p>
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<h6 class="mobile-gallery-icon"><strong><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;"><img class="alignnone wp-image-349096" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Boris-Vaksman-1.jpg" alt="Boris Vaksman 1" width="1081" height="613" /></span>The incredibly rabid footage came from a video conference call on June 3 when Vaksman was supposed to be conducting a youth coaching session </strong></h6>
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<div class="mobile-gallery-icon"><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">A native of Odessa, Ukraine, Vaksman has been an assistant at the school under coach Yury Gelman since 2006, and previously served as the United States Fencing Association&#8217;s junior national team coach. He is also a fencing referee and a coach at the Fencer&#8217;s Club in Manhattan</span></div>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">&#8216;As soon as the recording was brought to our attention the matter was immediately investigated and the individual no longer works at the University,&#8217; wrote St. John&#8217;s Athletic Director Michael Cragg in a statement. &#8216;The racist comments expressed are completely unacceptable and a rejection of everything for which the University stands.&#8217;<br />
</span>Vaksman has reportedly been suspended by the Fencer&#8217;s Club as well.</p>
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<strong style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">This disturbing racist rant against black people posted online led to the immediate firing of St John&#8217;s university&#8217;s Ukrainian born fencing coach </strong></div>
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<p class="mol-para-with-font">USA Fencing has responded to the video&#8217;s release on Instagram:<br />
&#8216;Today, USA Fencing became aware of an audio recording of a fencing coach that included virulently racist comments targeting the Black community. We are disgusted by these statements, which are racist, offensive and have no place in the USA Fencing community or in society as a whole.<br />
USA Fencing stands with our black athletes and all underrepresented minorities within the fencing family and will conduct an immediate investigation. We will be implementing steps to protect our athletes and all members who may be victimized, marginalized or otherwise injured by such conduct.&#8217;</p>
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<h6 class="mobile-gallery-icon"><strong> <span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;"><img class="alignnone wp-image-349099" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Ibtihaj-Muhammad-1.jpg" alt="Ibtihaj Muhammad 1" width="835" height="545" /></span>Initially emerging as an audio recording, eventually the video which was first posted anonymously, was then reposted by Ibtihaj Muhammad [photo] </strong></h6>
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<div> <img id="i-9933a37dbaa85a48" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/06/11/20/29502118-8411933-image-m-38_1591904396092.jpg" alt="Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad reacted to the Vaksman video on Instagram after reposting it" width="634" height="221" /></div>
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<h6 class="mobile-gallery-icon"><strong>US Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad reacted to the Vaksman&#8217;s bizarre rant on Instagram after reposting it </strong></h6>
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<div class="image-wrap fff-pic">Muhammad included her own response when she reposted the video on Instagram: &#8216;This video is a reminder that coaches and teachers, those people entrusted with building us, educating us, and protecting us, too often perpetuate the discriminatory treatment and behaviors that normalize racism.&#8217;<br />
Vaksman was a four-time Soviet Union champion in his younger days and has coached several NCAA National Champions at St. John&#8217;s, including Cooper Schumacher, Isis Washington, Natalie Vie, and Yevgeniy Karyuchenko.</div>
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<h6 class="mobile-gallery-icon"><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;"><img class="alignnone wp-image-349101" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Boris-Vaksman-left-3.jpg" alt="Boris Vaksman [left] 3" width="870" height="562" /></span><strong>St. John&#8217;s University coach Boris Vaksman talks with Sean White during the finals in the epee competition during the Division I Men&#8217;s Fencing Championship held at Penn State Univ on March 25, 2018 </strong></h6>
<div><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">The recording ends with Vaksman saying “I think uh…what’s his name, Lincoln, made a mistake…,” an obvious reference to Abraham Lincoln ending the slavery of African Americans by signing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.</span></div>
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<p class=""><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">The video was posted to Instagram by Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad, who added, &#8220;“This video is a reminder that coaches and teachers, those people entrusted with building us, educating us, and protecting us, too often perpetuate the discriminatory treatment and behaviors that normalize racism.”</span></p>
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<div class="crd--cnt"><span style="color: var(--color-text); font-size: 1rem;">Vaksman was fired from St. John’s shortly after the incident was posted.</span></div>
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<p class="">“As soon as the recording was brought to our attention the matter was immediately investigated and the individual no longer works at the University. The racist comments expressed are completely unacceptable and a rejection of everything for which the University stands,” wrote St. John’s Athletic Director Michael Cragg in a statement.</p>
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