New York City Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly has issued a statement regarding the allegations that NYPD officers made hateful comments on Facebook about the West Indian American Day Parade.
The comments, which appeared on a Facebook group page titled "No More West Indian Day Detail," allegedly included officers saying that they should "bomb" the event. There were also comments calling parade-goers "animals" and "savages."
Many fellow officers believe that cops should be protected by their First Amendment rights, but it seems that isn't flying with the commissioner.
The statement from Kelly reads as follows:
It is disturbing when anyone denigrates a community with hateful speech. It is unacceptable when police officers do it. Despite the assertion of First Amendment rights in social media cases, the Police Department reserves the right to discipline behavior it determines unbecoming of a police officer if detrimental to the service, especially when it is disrespectful of communities that officers have taken an oath to protect.
Although Kelly failed to confirm that the comments were made by NYPD officers, 20 offensive comments were associated with names that match those of police officers. The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau has opened an investigation into the matter.
Read more at Gothamist.