The Waterville teacher, who made international headlines late last month after publicly calling for the assassination of President Donald Trump and his supporters, issued a strange apology on Facebook. She blamed insomnia, rape, and domestic abuse for her outburst calling for violence before deleting the apology.
“I had a mental breakdown due to severe insomnia and the stress of trying to cope with trauma inflicted on me by a domestic abuser and rapist, but I have sought the help I needed and my brain is mine again. I’ve been under the care of an incredible psychiatric team. They saw what was happening, and worked with me to help me get fully back to myself. Mostly what I needed was sleep. I hope you have no idea the psychosis lack of sleep brings,” said the teacher, JoAnna St. Germain, in a Friday post.
“I regret my words of violence towards the current administration. That is not in my heart when my brain is well. I have never received so much as a speeding ticket, and I loathe guns and violence. I meet every individual with respect and an open mind when I am well. I have the most genuine remorse for making people feel unsafe,” she added.
Even in the apology, she still affirmed her hatred of the Trump Administration and her belief that President Trump is a fascist.
“As for my other critiques of the administration, stet. I meant every word I said about the rise of fascism and the horror of trafficking humans to foreign prisons. My heart breaks every day for the vulnerable populations being targeted and irreparably harmed. I love you. If you hate me? I still love you,” she concluded.
The apology asserts that her calls for Trump’s assassination, and her claim that she would commit the murder herself if she could, were merely the product of temporary psychosis brought on by insomnia, and the trauma of rape, and domestic abuse. She was apparently able to overcome that trauma in under two weeks, and, according to her apology, is no longer psychotic.
It appears, however, that her psychotic episode resumed because, as of Monday, she had deleted her post and has not issued any other statements to explain her decision to remove the apology.
Along with her apology, she has also removed the original post in which she called on the Secret Service to assassinate Trump and all of his supporters.
“The Secret Service has the perfect opportunity, if they choose to step up and take it. You are the ones with power. Coordinate. Take out every single person who supports Trump’s illegal, immoral, unconstitutional acts. Look at the sycophants and give them what they’re asking for. Every other country sees what’s happening and they are taking stands. If you step up, we can avoid a civil war,” said St. Germain in the post that made international headlines.
Despite deleting the original post and the apology, other posts related to the incident remain on her Facebook page, including one affirming that she was in her right mind when she called for the president’s death.
“To be clear, publicly: I knew what I was doing when I did it. I’m not the least fucking sorry,” she said.
One X user, Nicholas Blanchard, who goes by The Real Corn Pop on social media and is the father of a student in the Waterville School District, posted an update on the same day as St. Germain’s deleted apology, including a recording of himself speaking to a school secretary who confirmed that St. Germain has not entered the school since the incident.
He claimed in his X post that he spoke to the School Superintendent, Peter Hallen, and that he confirmed the teacher has not entered the school since her post, but said she has been free to do so and has not been fired.
“Just spoke with Peter Hallen (Waterviile, [sic] Maine, superintendent) and confirmed that she hasn’t been at work since the incident, but also hasn’t been fired and can report to work if she wanted,” said Blanchard.
The recording only shows Blanchard speaking to a secretary—who confirmed that St. Germain has not entered the building—and leaving a message for the superintendent, so The Maine Wire cannot independently verify his claims.
The Maine Wire has reached out to Hallen and other school officials multiple times, trying to confirm whether any disciplinary action has been taken against St. Germain, or whether she will be allowed to continue teaching at the school. However, thus far, the officials have ignored all requests for information from The Maine Wire.
As of Monday morning, St. Germain was still listed as an English teacher in the Waterville Senior High School staff directory.
