Two police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, have been suspended with pay, and one police officer in Nashville has been suspended for inappropriate social media posts in the wake of the Dallas police shootings. The unidentified officers in Memphis were suspended for sharing a photograph in which a white person points a gun at an emoji of a black boy running. The scene appears to be in a hallway leading to the front door of a home. The Nashville police officer, eight-year veteran Anthony Venable, was decommissioned for posting “Yeah. I would have done 5.” Venable’s post was interpreted as referring to the shooting of Philando Castile on July 5 in Falcon Height, Minnesota. Castile was shot four times when he reached for his wallet after being pulled over in a traffic stop. “The police department is treating this matter very seriously and took immediate action, regardless of what he claims the context to have been,” [Nashville] Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson said.
This is not the first time public servants have let their “virtual” mouths get them in trouble. But it is the first time in the wake of the deadliest violence visited upon police officers since September 11, 2001. That fact was clearly not lost on Interim Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings:
“The image is disgusting and will not be tolerated. We will conduct a thorough investigation and the individuals responsible will be held accountable. I just spoke to a group of young people at LeMoyne-Owen about decisions and we are responsible for the decisions we make and we are held to a higher standard.”
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“Rallings said the department is conducting a "thorough investigation" into the incident.”
"We will not stand for this," Rallings said. "This is a time to heal for all of us."
This is indeed a time for healing.
As well as cool heads and even cooler (virtual) tongues.
Monday, Jul 11, 2016 · 4:34:30 PM +00:00
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Thandisizwe Chimurenga
Rodney Lee Wilson, an officer with the Overland Park Police Dept. in Kansas, has been fired as of July 10 for his remarks on Facebook. According to the Daily Mail, Robinson commented the following on a post of pictures of a Black woman’s daughter:
'We'll see how much her life matters soon... better be careful leaving your info in the open where she can be found. Hold her close tonight, it'll be the last time.”