Activists: Police officer's offensive Facebook post wasn't his first

Updated 12:32 p.m. | Posted 9:55 a.m.

Neighborhoods Organizing for Change activists say the St. Paul police officer on leave for social media comments about running over demonstrators had made similar posts in the past.

Sgt. Jeff Rothecker admitted this week that he'd left comments on a story by the St. Paul Pioneer Press advising motorists to run over protesters during a march and rally on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He also gave advice about how to avoid prosecution for running someone over during the protest.

In a statement on Wednesday, Rothecker said the posts had been insensitive and wrong. He said his "poor choice of words conveyed a message I did not intend and am not proud of."

Rothecker was put on leave by the St. Paul Police Department and the comments were condemned by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who said Rothecker's apology didn't repair the breach of trust he'd created with city residents.

Later in the week, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change communications director Becky Zosia Dernbach posted screenshots of comments made about another demonstration in mid-November on the group's Facebook page by the account that was later associated with Rothecker.

"They should've ran them over. Obviously their parents never taught them not to play on the highway," the Nov. 16 comments on the group's page read. "If drivers would've just kept driving, any idiot that wants to walk onto the highway and risk getting hit, it's their fault and not that of the driver."

The account goes on to argue that hitting pedestrians with a car on the interstate would not be illegal "as long as you stop and speak with police."

Read the entire post, via Scribd.

Dernbach said in her Facebook post that the account was blocked following the exchange. Neighborhoods Organizing for Change said the screenshots have been sent to the mayor and police chief, asking them to take immediate action against Rothecker.

"[T]his predatory pattern reveals a clear and deliberate intent to harm and target community members over the course of months," according to a statement from Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. "Police officers who encourage violence against our communities should not be trusted with protecting and serving our communities."

A number of high-profile police killings of black men across the country has sparked the Black Lives Matter movement and protests, including the occupation of the Minneapolis Police Department's 4th Precinct late last year. Neighborhoods Organizing for Change Executive Director Anthony Newby said "all eyes are on police accountability and police behavior."

"It is a moment where there's very public, high-profile targeting of people exercising their First Amendment rights," Newby said. "This statement online, therefore, isn't simply a one-off statement, it can't be ignored. It's a pattern that's happening, the police on both sides of the river are actively involved in some of these patterns, and they need to be held accountable."

Chris Wachtler, an attorney representing the St. Paul Police Federation, said officials were notified on Thursday of the most recent comments attributed to Rothecker.

"Some investigation on our end is going to be necessary in order for us to comment further," Wachtler said. "The Federation does not condone promoting illegal activity such as assault."

Rothecker is a U.S. Army veteran and has served with the St. Paul Police Department for more than two decades, according to information provided by the union.

Rothecker's disciplinary records stretch back to 1998 and include reprimands for three preventable car crashes, according to records from the police department.

Rothecker was also suspended for two days in 2010 after investigators found that a suspect in custody was beaten and injured by an off-duty officer while he was supervising. Rothecker was suspended for one day in 2013 after it was discovered that he was one of dozens of St. Paul officers who had inappropriately accessed the driver's license data of a former female officer.