By Lexi Lonas - 04/22/21 01:22 PM EDT
A Massachusetts police department issued an apology Thursday after an officer published his personal opinion on the police’s page that compared former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to George Floyd, the man he was convicted Tuesday of murdering. It is with regret that the Fall River Police Department s Facebook page was accessed by personnel who inadvertently re-posted an opinion that was meant for their own personal account, the apology post on the police department s page reads. The posting in no way represents the opinion of the Chief of Police or the Fall River Police Department. We will continue our commitment toward transparency and building relationships with our community.
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A Massachusetts police department issued an apology after its social media account shared a post that speculated what would have happened had George Floyd immediately stood and calmly placed his hands behind his back.
After ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, an officer for the Fall River Police Department accidentally shared a post from the department’s account instead of his or her own.
“Chauvin immediately stood and calmly placed his hands behind his back” following the verdict, read the since-deleted post, the
Apr 22, 2021
FALL RIVER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) Fall River Police announced Thursday that the officer who shared a post criticizing George Floyd to the department’s Facebook page has been transferred to an assignment that has no contact with the public.
The post was shared after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering Floyd. It said “Chauvin immediately stood and calmly placed his hands behind his back. Imagine where we’d be had George done the same.” The post has since been deleted.
In a separate post, the police department wrote it is “with regret” their Facebook page “was accessed by personnel who inadvertently re-posted an opinion that was meant for their own personal account. The posting in no way represents the opinion of the Chief of Police or the Fall River Police Department.”
The Herald News
FALL RIVER, Mass. A police department has apologized after posting and then deleting a Facebook post that appeared to criticize George Floyd, whose death at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin last May galvanized national attention on racial inequities and police brutality.
An investigation is underway and could lead to disciplinary action for the Fall River police officer who published the post, which was a screenshot of a tweet that read, Chauvin immediately stood and calmly placed his hands behind his back. Imagine where we d be if George had done the same.
The post appeared shortly after the former officer was convicted Tuesday on three counts in Floyd s murder. He faces potentially decades behind bars.