Investigation reveals impersonator acting as wife of Police Officer posts racist Facebook comments
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and last updated 2021-02-17 20:40:43-05
KAYSVILLE, Utah â An investigation has revealed that racist Facebook comments were made by a fake account in an attempt to impersonate the wife of a Kaysville Police Officer.
The comments were originally made at the end of May on KTVX ABC4âs Facebook page. The comments expressed support of then-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who was arrested after a video showed him kneeling on Floyd s neck for several minutes.
The person who left the comment has impersonated other people in the past, too.
FILE - This June 19, 2017 file photo shows a person working on a laptop in North Andover, Mass. The wife of a Utah police officer has been cleared after an internal investigation by the Kaysville Police Department and a criminal investigation by an outside agency concluded that racist comments posted online were the work of someone impersonating her. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
| Feb. 18, 2021, 4:08 a.m.
The wife of a Utah police officer got into trouble in May after she appeared to have posted a racist comment on an online article saying she supported the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Her husband was placed on leave and the couple received death threats.
KSL TV
KAYSVILLE – An officer with the Kaysville Police Department was back on the job Wednesday, almost eight months after someone impersonated his wife online and made racist comments.
Officer Michael Criddle will never forget May 28, 2020. Our lives were destroyed everything we had worked for, Criddle said.
The impersonator posted derogatory comments about the death of George Floyd on a local TV station s Facebook page under a fake Facebook profile that claimed to be his wife, Amber Criddle.
Kaysville Police Chief Sol Oberg took quick action. We immediately pulled in Officer Criddle, he said.
Michael Criddle was put on administrative leave so an investigation could start. He was devastated.
Deseret News and Debbie Worthen
KSL-TV
KAYSVILLE Eight months after a Kaysville police officer was placed on administrative leave over comments attributed to his wife, investigators have determined that his family was the victim of catfishing.
On May 28, someone posing as the wife of Kaysville police officer Michael Criddle made racist comments on a public Facebook page regarding the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by police.
Even though Criddle himself was not accused of racism or making racist comments, and Kaysville police acknowledged that both Criddle and his wife “strongly denied” the allegations and even suggested a fake social media profile may have been created, Criddle was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.