Mayor's shocking behavior caught on camera as he left meeting about striking teachers

A Massachusetts politician has been caught connected camera making an obscene motion arsenic helium near a tense dialog gathering with striking teachers.

Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga was caught raising his mediate digit portion driving distant from West Parish Elementary School, with protesters chanting 'shame connected you!' successful the background.

Dramatic footage from The Gillnetter, the city's precocious schoolhouse pupil newspaper, captured the infinitesimal Verga raised his mediate digit connected Thursday night. 

The politician claimed helium was driven to the shocking motion aft feeling threatened, telling the nationalist his woman was 'scared' and 'sick to her stomach' arsenic protesters gathered extracurricular their home. 

'Anyone who knows maine knows that this is retired of character,' helium said Friday. 

Verga insisted the motion was directed astatine a circumstantial idiosyncratic - 'not the crowd, and surely not the teachers.' 

He said helium was flipping disconnected a 'former nationalist information official' who allegedly approached his car model shouting.

'As I made my mode up to the parking lot, a erstwhile nationalist information authoritative approached my car model shouting astatine me,' Verga said. 'At this point, my frustrations got the champion of me, and I responded to the nastiness being hurled astatine maine arsenic I was trying to marque my mode location to my frightened wife.' 

'As an elected authoritative and a nationalist figure, I signed up for this. But my woman and our household did not,' helium said. 'I ne'er expected to fearfulness for the information of my household successful my ain location from members of my ain community.'

'We each request to bash amended to lick this crisis, and I mean to pb the way,' Verga said. 'This is not who we are arsenic a community. Gloucester has ever travel unneurotic successful a clip of crisis. This is that time.'

 Matthew Lewis, Vice President of the Union of Gloucester Educators, condemned the mayor's behaviour arsenic 'disgusting' and 'unbecoming' of an elected official, arsenic reported by Boston.com. 

'We are disgusted by this obscene motion made by the elected authoritative who was expected to correspond this city,' Lewis said successful an emailed statement, referring to Verga. 'We had nary issues being outside, and the constabulary were determination to marque definite that everyone was harmless and staying successful line.' 

'Parents and students were contiguous and appalled astatine what they saw,' Lewis added. 'Regardless of the volition oregon absorption of the gesture, parents and students were contiguous and appalled astatine what they saw.'