LAPD sergeant accused of George Floyd Valentine-style meme won’t face disciplinary action
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Police Department sergeant accused of sharing a George Floyd Valentine-style meme around the department days before the February holiday was cleared by an administrative trial board and will not face any disciplinary action, it was reported Tuesday.
The LAPD released the following statement to FOX 11 :
"The employee who was directed to a board of rights for sharing the George Floyd meme was found Not Guilty. In this case, the facts and evidence were heard by a board that was comprised of civilian board members who are selected from the community.The Department respects the disciplinary process and will direct employees to a board of rights where it is believed that termination is the appropriate penalty."
In February, the Los Angeles Police Department launched an internal investigation to look into the matter, saying the department "will have zero tolerance for this type of behavior."
The LAPD issued the following statement on Twitter on Feb. 13:
"The Department has become aware of allegations that an image was being passed around the department and this image was in the workplace. There are also allegations that the post with the image was authored by a department employee.
A personnel complaint has been initiated and we are pursuing each allegation including interviewing the department member who brought it to our attention.
At this point, the Department has not identified any actual postings in the workplace or identified that it was in fact our department employee who created the image. We have raised the apparent existence of the image and directed commands to survey the worksites for it.
If found any employee or supervisor is directed to take possession and identify those present. The Department will have zero tolerance for this type of behavior."
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The photo of Floyd, who died when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck on May 31, 2020, allegedly included the words "You take my breath away.'' Floyd's murder sparked a social justice movement that led to protests nationwide.
Since then, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged for 22.5 years for Floyd’s murder.
RELATED: Derek Chauvin sentence: 22.5 years in prison for murder of George Floyd