Before he was recorded making disparaging comments about members of the military during class, a Pico Rivera councilman’s behavior in his day job as an El Rancho High School teacher sparked past controversy in the community multiple times.

The video posted to Facebook on Friday shows Gregory Salcido, who also previously served as Pico Rivera’s mayor while maintaining his job as a history teacher, calling military members “dumbs—s” and “the frickin’ lowest of the low.”

A 17-year-old student recorded the video in one of Salcido’s classes, then showed the footage to his parents. A woman who said she was a friend of the parents posted the video to Facebook Friday afternoon.

Since then, thousands of people around the country disparaged Salcido or called for his firing on Facebook and Twitter. The front desk phone at El Rancho High rang constantly Monday morning, and officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said they were monitoring a deluge of comments on social media for threats.

Before Friday’s controversy, Salcido was placed on leave by the El Rancho Unified School Distirct at least twice for his previous behavior. Here’s the timeline of his professional career:

1998: Salcido received his teaching credentials.

1999: He was elected to the Pico Rivera City Council in 1999.

2002: Salcido is rotated in as mayor. He also runs in the Democratic primary for the 38th Congressional District against two-term incumbent Grace Napolitano. He raised $62,000, compared to Napolitano’s more than $305,000.

Salcido’s upstart campaign failed, though according to a 2002 Los Angeles Times profile, the candidate used the opportunity to teach his students about the U.S. electoral process.

Salcido also used current events in Pico Rivera at the time to teach civics lessons in his classes, even if that meant wading into adult subject matters.

The same year Salcido ran for Congress, the opening of a strip club in Pico Rivera led to protests in the community. When a judge ruled that the city must allow the club to open, the teacher and councilman used the opportunity to teach his students about the U.S. Constitution, according to the L.A. Times.

2005: A parent’s complaints about a class discussion over a book Salcido assigned — which included a reference to masturbation — turned into a call to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The parent spoke to the school district about the book, “The Known World” by Edward P. Jones, a Pulitzer Prize winner, saying she found the sexual content inappropriate.

El Rancho Unified officials said at the time that they were required to turn the complaint over to sheriff’s officials because the accusations were sexual in nature. Investigators found no wrongdoing on Salcido’s part.

2010: Salcido serves another year as mayor. In July that year, Salcido was placed on temporary leaveand later suspended after a parent complained that the teacher threatened his daughter, made inappropriate comments about race and insulted other students and parents. Salcido denied the accusations, saying his comments were taken out of context.

At the time, the student, Savannah Kelly, said she was talking to a classmate when Salcido said, “shut up Kelly before I kill you.”

2012: Salcido was again placed on leave after hitting a 15-year-old El Rancho student who put his head down in class.

The student’s mother called the sheriff’s Pico Rivera station to complain that Salcido hit the boy in the back of the head during his sixth-period world history class in May of that year. Salcido admitted to hitting the student.

“I smacked him, but not with any intent to do harm,” Salcido said at the time. “I just told him to wake up.”

The student told KPCC at the time that Salcido also teased him, making fun of his weight and appearance.

2015: Salcido becomes mayor again.

Despite often creating tumult for the district from inside his classroom, Salcido remained popular with students, who described him as effective and having a sense of humor.

“He’s like one of the best teachers I’ve ever had,” a 17-year-old student said at the time of the 2010 incident. “He actually teaches. He doesn’t just go from the book.”