Black leaders want St. Paul cop fired over Facebook post
A group of community activists say a St. Paul police sergeant should be fired for a social media post that urged drivers to run over protesters during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day march.
Sgt. Jeff Rothecker has apologized for the comment, posted as a Facebook response to a news article. It explained how a driver could strike demonstrators without criminal consequences. The comment provoked outrage ahead of the planned demonstration against police killings of black men.
Members of the St. Paul NAACP and Black Ministerial Alliance are now calling for Rothecker to lose his job.
"We demand not only that that officer be fired, but we demand that the city attorney, also the county attorney and the Justice Department, under the color of law, look in to see if there was some civil rights violations," said Nathaniel Khaliq, former St. Paul NAACP president.
The Police Department and mayor have denounced Rothecker's comments and an investigation is underway. However, city officials say they can't discuss details because it is a personnel matter.
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