Police Officer Investigated For Making Racist Comments on Facebook
A Michigan police officer is under investigation after allegedly making racist comments on Facebook.
The officer, who has not been named, reportedly make the remarks in the comments section of a local news site's post on the social media platform, WDIV reported.
According to the station, his post claimed Black people are the most racist in the world and Black-on-Black crime is out of control. It also claimed that Black men do not support their children.
The officer reportedly ended the post by writing that he was glad he was not born Black because he would then take his own life.
Tamia Brooks reportedly got into a heated exchange with the officer and was so appalled by his comments that she looked him up online and discovered that he works for the Warren Police Department.
Before the comments were deleted, Brooks screengrabbed it all and sent it to the police department on Monday.
"I was like 'Wow, he really said all this stuff and he really thinks this,'" she told WDIV.
"This is a cop. You are supposed to protect us. I don't know if it's just him who really thinks this about us."
Brooks said the police department got back to her immediately.
Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer confirmed the department was made aware of the comments on Monday and that an internal affairs investigation is underway.
Dwyer has been contacted for additional comment.
The incident comes more than a year after the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.
Floyd's death, and those of other Black people by police, prompted widespread protests against racial injustice and police brutality last summer and ongoing calls for police reform.
Over the past year, instances of officers making racially-charged comments and behaving inappropriately have made headlines.
Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Police Department launched an investigation after an employee allegedly created a Valentine-themed meme of Floyd with the caption "You take my breath away."
Last month, a town in New Jersey fired a police officer who referred to Black Lives Matter protesters as "terrorists" in a post on Facebook last summer.
"I love my police family like my own. So when you share posts and things on Facebook I'd really appreciate if you'd THINK before doing so," the fired officer, Sara Erwin, had written in the post.
"I've seen so many black lives matter hashtags in these posts. Just to let you know—they are terrorists. They hate me. They hate my uniform. They don't care if I die."
