Colorado Officer Suspended For Posting ‘Kill Them All’ Comments About Protesters
JakeThomas
A police officer in Colorado has been temporarily suspended after using a fake name to post online comments saying “kill them all” on a Facebook livestream of protests in June, according to The Hill.
- Sgt. Keith Wrede was given a 40-hour suspension, according to Colorado Springs Police Department Chief Vince Niski’s open letter, “which he noted amounted to more than $2,000 in lost pay.”
- Wrede also “was removed from his specialized unit as a result of an internal investigation into the comments.”
- Niski said Wrede used the alias “Steven Eric” to post “KILL THEM ALL” and “KILL EM ALL” on a local station’s livestream of protesters supporting Black Lives Matter. The demonstrators had blocked traffic on I-25 on June 30.
- The chief said the department launched an internal investigation after “they received a tip that ‘Steven Eric’ was a pseudonym, and the account actually belonged to CSPD Sergeant Keith Wrede.”
“It was determined that the comments were made off-duty out of frustration and there was no indication of any physical action or intent to cause harm. I am in no way minimizing Sergeant Wrede’s words. His comments were unacceptable, have damaged our relationship with members of our community, and fell short of our standards,” Niski stated in the letter, which included links to documents related to the probe and photos of the offensive comments.
- Niski also “said Wrede was not fired over the comments because he ‘cannot deprive the community of a good police officer and his services because of an isolated incident of an error in judgment,’ despite finding the officer’s comments ‘harmful and reprehensible.’”
- In addition, Niski asked the public to “Please remember officers are human too and make mistakes.”
