Iowa Police Chief Suspended Over Comment Referring To Protesters As ‘Road Bumps’
M S
According to The Hill, Sioux Rapids Police Chief Tim Porter has been suspended after commenting that demonstrators are “road bumps” on a Facebook post.
- The Hill reported that Iowa outlet KCCI shared a video on Facebook “earlier this month of a man driving a pickup truck through a crowd of protesters outside of a Hy-Vee store in Des Moines, Iowa. Porter commented on the post, in all caps, “hit the gas and hang on over the road bumps,” according to the Des Moines Register.
- During a meeting on Monday, the Sioux Rapids City Council “voted to suspend the police official for two weeks without pay,” and must “take sensitivity training,” the report continued.
“He will be disciplined,” said City Council Member Lynda Swanson. “Not only will Chief Porter take this class, but the city council will take the class also because none of us are perfect, and we can learn from the class. Just like he will.”
- Porter apologized for the comment last week and “claimed that he posted it by mistake in a statement to KCCI,” The Hill wrote.
“I was on another post working and somehow it accidentally was posted on the wrong post,” Porter said. “I just want to publicly apologize for my horrible mistake, my posting was a total accident. I don’t want to offend anyone. I’m all for peaceful protest.”
The demonstration in front of Hy-Vee was organized to support a former store employee who accused the company of racial discrimination.
