SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts police department is investigating a Facebook comment by an officer who wrote “Hahahaha love this” in response to a story about a car crashing into counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one person and injuring at least 19 others.
Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri says he received a complaint about the comment Sunday and opened an internal investigation.
Officer Conrad Lariviere wrote in response to the violence: “Hahahaha love this, maybe people shouldn’t block road ways.”
In a Facebook interview with Masslive.com, Lariviere says he’s a “good man who made a stupid comment.”
Democratic Mayor Domenic Sarno says: “There is no place for this in our society, let alone from a Springfield Police Officer.”
An Ohio man is charged with second-degree murder and other counts over the crash.
If they’re not gonna fire the cop who posted this comment, he needs to be severely reprimanded and suspended without pay. How quickly we forget the outraged reaction from US police departments a few weeks ago when Trump encouraged cops to act like goons against crime suspects.
Oh, I’m sure it was just a “joke”.
I mean, isn’t that always their excuse.
Stupid?? Running into people purposely doesn’t allow for ‘Stupid’ comments, at any time.
Embarrassed by what my ’ old stompin’ ground’ has become. Frighteningly ignorant people infiltrate the board of the local paper. I know it’s not representative of all but there have been far too many black eyes of late. The police officer needs to go, how can anyone so dispassionate be counted on in that role?
There’s another really terrifying aspect to the C’Ville situation. Gov T-Mac is now saying that the police there felt overwhelmed by the presence of the high powered weaponry of the militia and so they just hung back as long as they could.
We’re talking about local and State police authorities who are intimidated by what this time? First, it’s Skittles then it’s White supremacist militia.
If the police are going to side with the White supremacists, they need to be rooted out and let go. Since when is seeing the civilians that they were sworn to protect and serve injured or killed funny?