New documents reveal that a Kentucky police officer who repeatedly made racist remarks on social media only received a slap on the wrist when his bosses discovered his publicly recurring bigotry.
According to WDRB, former Louisville, Ky., police officer Brian Smith received a 30-day suspension without pay for violating the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department’s social media policy.
The department’s inquiry began in December 2016 when a citizen said that Smith should be investigated for his “deep-seated bias against minority communities. Consider this post on his Facebook page about clothing choices made by mostly black youth.”
In the post, Smith wrote:
Ok. … If you wear a hat, square it up on ur head and put a bend in the bill, and pull ur pants up. You really make me want to hit u as hard as i can in the face just to see if I can fold ur teeth inside ur mouth. I’m not saying id do it, for that would be illegal, immoral, and wrong, not to mention (and most important) could get me in trouble. That is all.”
Oh, but that’s not all. The complainant also included a post of Smith sharing a story about a black teenager who punched another girl. In his caption, Smith added: “ANIMAL! Nothing but a wild animal that needs put down. There I said it.”
Smith also suggested that singer Madonna should be beaten “half to death” for studying the Koran, adding “That’s a lesson in Muslin (sic) behavior for her.”
When the police chief heard about this, he jumped right on it ... after more than a year passed. In January 2018, LMPD Chief Steve Conrad wrote in a letter to Smith: “I believe your posts can be construed by some to express ridicule, bias, disrespect or prejudice against members of our community.”
Ten days later, Conrad meted out the punishment for Smith: 30 days suspension.
To be fair, that’s more than the 25-day suspension he received for sending “inappropriate text messages” to his ex-girlfriend’s daughter, who was a minor at the time.
I believe an appropriate punishment would be for Brian Smith to be kicked in the face with a white hipster’s boots until his teeth fold inside his mouth. Or better yet, he should be beaten half to death with a jack handle wrapped in nails, broken glass and Steve Buscemi’s teeth and dipped in Lena Dunham’s earwax.
Now some might construe that statement as biased, disrespectful or prejudiced against police, but I’m not saying I’d do it. That would be illegal, immoral, and wrong, not to mention (and most important) could get me in trouble.
In reality, Smith is just a racist animal who needs to be put down.
There, I said it.