A police officer from New York state has been suspended and will possibly be pinked slipped after being accused of posting a racist Facebook rant about President Barack Obama, The Journal News reports.
Officer Peter Burns of the Pleasantville Police Department allegedly used the profile page name “Coon Trapper” when the following status was posted on Dec. 11:
“The fact that he (Obama) is still alive bewilders me,” Officer Peter Burns is alleged to have written in the post, obtained by The Journal News on Thursday. “Go die in a shallow grave you Muslim commie …”
Pleasantville Police Chief Richard Love announced that Burns was placed on administrative leave, pending an investigation into his actions. In a statement to The Journal News, Love said that “the Police department will consider all legal options, including the possibility of commencing disciplinary proceedings against the Police Officer which could lead to (Burns) dismissal.”
Burns, 35, could not be reached for comment. He was hired in 2004 and earns more than $98,000 per year.
The Facebook posting has one law enforcement official stunned.
“The fact that a cop can say something like that about the president shows that there are deep racial issues within law enforcement,” said Damon Jones, president of the Westchester chapter of Blacks in Law Enforcement of America. “It’s something our elected officials have to pay attention to. There should be racial sensitivity training in every police department, with oversight to make sure that it’s being done properly and being taken seriously.”
This is not the first time that an officer from the Pleasantville Police Department has been accused of racism. Back in 2010, Officer Aaron Hess, who is white, was cleared of wrongdoing after he shot Danroy Henry, a black Pace University football player. Hess joined a number of other Mount Pleasant officers responding to an incident that took place outside a Thornwood bar involving a large crowd.
Henry was shot when he started to drive away from the scene. Hess, who ended up on the hood of Henry’s car, was injured and has since retired. A county grand jury cleared officers of criminal wrongdoing in the shooting, despite a number of lawsuits stemming from the shooting.
The Pleasantville Police Department includes one black, one Hispanic and two female officers among its 20-member force.
[Source: NewsOne]
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