Kissimmee, FL – A rookie police officer in Kissimmee was fired after community members reported his social media posts praising the Capitol riot and slamming Black Lives Matter.
Article by Sandy Malone originally published at The Police Tribune.
Kissimmee Police Department officials said that a concerned citizen sent them 30 screenshots of concerning Facebook posts that they said had been made by Kissimmee Police Officer Andrew Johnson, WESH reported.
The person who made the complaint sent a letter to police expressing his concerns, NBC News reported.
“This officer is a very big problem,” the citizen wrote. “Not only is he a very big supporter of what happened recently in DC, but as you’ll see by the attached screenshots has posted some very inappropriate things overtime, and in having conversations face to face with this man, has said some massively concerning things as well.”
“I believe he is incapable of doing his job without bias which as we all know is a massive problem for police in this country,” the person who complained added.
Internal Affairs investigated the posts and confirmed that they had been made by Officer Johnson, WESH reported. Kissimmee Police Department Public Information Officer Samantha Scarp said Officer Johnson was suspended on Jan. 12 after the police department verified the authenticity of the posts, NBC News reported
He was fired two days later on Jan. 14, WESH reported.
“The posts he made do not align with our core values here,” Scarp said.
She said that the police department’s investigation of Officer Johnson’s social media didn’t show that any other Kissimmee police officers had engaged with his offensive posts, NBC News reported. The posts on Officer Johnson’s Facebook page ran the gamut in topics that ranged from abortion rights to athletes kneeling during the National Anthem.
“The silent majority will rise!! Day one of the Revolutionary War!! Hang on, it’s only just begun,” the rookie officer posted in response to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Officer Johnson’s cover photo was a Trump 2020 flag during the campaign and after President Joe Biden was declared the winner, he questioned the accuracy of the election results on social media, NBC News reported. The officer didn’t appear to be a fan of the Black Lives Matter movement, according to his Facebook page which has since been deleted.
“I’m selling my white privilege card… it hasn’t done a damn thing for me. No inheritance, no free college, no free food, no free housing ect. I may even be willing to do an even trade for a race card. Those seem way more useful and way more widely accepted,” he posted, according to NBC News.
He also mocked Jacob Blake, whose shooting by a Kenosha Police Officer in August of 2020 led to nationwide riots. Blake was shot by police after he showed up at the home of a woman he was charged with sexually assaulting three months earlier. He fought with police and was holding a knife when an officer shot him multiple times.
Blake was left partially paralyzed from the officer-involved shooting that was ultimately ruled justified by the Kenosha County district attorney. Officer Johnson shared a meme with the words “BLM Activists in Wisconsin paint street mural in support of Jacob Blake” emblazoned on a handicapped parking space, NBC News reported.
Documents released by the Kissimmee Police Department showed that Officer Johnson, who joined the police force in March of 2020, was still on probation with the department, WESH reported.
Kissimmee Chief of Police Jeffrey O’Dell notified Officer Johnson of his termination in a letter and informed him that because he was still on probation, he wasn’t entitled to an appeal, NBC News reported.
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