California history teacher slams military as 'lowest of our low,' 'dumbs**ts' in viral rant

A liberal California school teacher is in hot water after he was caught on video disparaging the United States military. Video of his comments has gone viral.

What happened?

El Rancho High School history teacher Gregory Salcido, who also serves as a Pico Rivera city councilman, was caught on camera telling his class on Jan. 19 that military servicemen are the "lowest of our low," likened military recruiters to pimps and potential recruits to "hoes." He even compared U.S. soldiers to the victims of the 9/11 terror attack who were forced to jump from the top stories of the World Trade Center because they "had no other option."

Three separate videos of Salcido's comments are going viral. A student wearing a Marine Corps hoodie recorded the comments. Some of what Salcido said includes:

So, if you join the military, it's because you had no other option because you didn't take care of business academically, because your parents didn't love you enough to push and because you didn't love yourself enough...And then your parents even encourage it sometimes because they want to get you off of their ass, because they want to get grandma and grandpa off of their ass because their grandson is a piece of s**t.

Think about the people you know who are over there. Your freakin' stupid Uncle Louie or whatever. They're dumbsh**ts. They're not high-level bankers. They're not academic people. They're not intellectual people. They’re the freakin’ lowest of our low.

Later in the video, Salcido said the American military is awful because it is still fighting terrorists in the Middle East and didn't win the Vietnam conflict. The U.S. only won World War II, Salcido said, because "we had a freakin' b**chin' bomb," referring to the atom bomb.

"It's a lie that our military is freakin' b**chin'," Salcido added.

At the end of the third video, the teacher is heard telling the student wearing the pro-military hoodie to never wear it to his class again.

The videos, which were posted to Facebook on Friday, have been viewed more than 6 million times and shared more than 65,000 times as of Sunday.

What did the school district say?

According to the Orange County Register, the school district is investigating and has said it will take disciplinary action against Salcido.

El Rancho Unified School District Superintendent Karling Aguilera-Fort said: "We have reached out to Mr. Salcido but have not been able to talk to him because he is out of town. We cannot expose the disciplinary measures because it is a personnel matter, but there will be disciplinary measures taken."

Aguilera-Fort also said the district's "first priority is to assure the community that what was said does not reflect the values of the El Rancho community and the El Rancho board."

What did the student say?

Though the student hasn't been personally identified, the Orange County Registered reported he is a 17-year-old senior. The student didn't intend for the videos to go viral, but he had no say in the matter. His mother sent them to a friend who posted them to Facebook.

"It wasn’t meant for anyone else, but my mom shared it with a few friends and now it’s this," he said.

The boy explained that Salcido's comments deeply hurt him because his father and two uncles served in the military.

"It was so disrespectful to my dad and my uncles and all veterans and those still in the military," he said.

What did the city say?

Pico Rivera Mayor Gustavo Camacho issued a statement over the weekend reaffirming the city's support for the military. Fellow councilman Bob Archuleta told the Orange County Register that he doesn't believe the city should take action against Salcido. Instead, he said it's up to the city's residents in the next election.

Has Salcido commented?

On Friday, he posted on his personal Facebook page that he didn't think it was wise for him to comment on the situation and reaffirmed his support of "free expression for all individuals."