It looks like Ferguson PD are taking a zero tolerance stance against police officers calling memorials trash!
From St. Louis Today:
A Ferguson police spokesman was placed on unpaid leave after acknowledging remarks to a Washington Post blogger in which he called the Michael Brown memorial a “pile of trash,” city officials said Saturday.
One day earlier, the city stood behind the spokesman, Officer Timothy Zoll — claiming he had been misquoted — after an inquiry into the damaged memorial in the middle of Canfield Drive. But officials retreated in a one-page statement issued Saturday.
Zoll was “confronted with the results” of a department investigation into the remarks attributed to him, city officials said.
The officer “admitted to department investigators” that he made the statement attributed to him” and had “misled” superiors about the interview.
The unpaid leave is effective immediately while disciplinary proceedings begin, according to the statement.
City officials emphasized that Zoll’s remarks “do not reflect the feelings” of the Ferguson Police Department.
The usual trolls on Twitter are probably gonna loot and kill each other over this perceived insult:
And the thing about Officer Zoll is that we know him. He policed protestors since the beginning. Y'all, that's wild. #Ferguson
— deray mckesson (@deray) December 28, 2014
https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/549029490920542210
And no, the disciplining of Officer Zoll is not "progress". The WaPo reporter confirmed he said it. It was just a matter of time. #Ferguson
— deray mckesson (@deray) December 28, 2014
Ferguson PD PIO who called Michael Brown memorial a "pile of trash" placed on unpaid leave: pic.twitter.com/0fV8DaZqjG via @jdelreal
— Anthony De Rosa (@Anthony) December 28, 2014