Philadelphia court supervisor who tore down Black Lives Matter signs fired

A Philadelphia Family Court supervisor caught on video tearing down Black Lives Matter signs from a city park fence — and then saying black lives don’t matter to him — was fired from his job this week, according to a new report.

Michael Henkel, 61, worked as a writ-server supervisor for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

A video widely shared on social media shows Henkel removing multiple signs from a fence at Columbus Square in South Philadelphia.

A woman can be heard confronting him, saying, “That’s not your property.”

“I know, it’s the city, I pay for this … my taxes pay for this place, just so you know,” he replied. “So I can do whatever I want.”

“And I’m always around here too,” he added.

The woman said she lives in the area too, adding, “Black lives matter!”

“Not to me they don’t,” Henkel shot back.

In a Monday statement, Family Court spokesperson Marty O’Rourke told the Inquirer that Henkel “is no longer an employee.”

“His termination was based on multiple violations” of the state court system’s Code of Conduct and its Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Policy, according to O’Rourke.

Henkel “had no involvement with cases” but did supervise employees, O’Rourke said.

“The court takes the incident very seriously and believes Mr. Henkel’s behavior as shown in the video is egregious and totally unacceptable for an employee of the courts,” the judicial district said in a statement issued to the paper.

Leslie Chapman, 42, who lives several blocks from the park, told the Inquirer that the signs were placed on the metal fence Friday afternoon as part of a kid-friendly march.

She contributed one cardboard sign that read, “Black Lives Matter,” along with a drawing of a rainbow.

Henkel’s actions “ruined that beautiful memory” of the peaceful, racially diverse march, she said.

“For that adult to take that away from children, it’s just really awful,” she said. “The kids probably had a lot of fun making those signs.”