Gretna, Louisiana police officer Charlie Rispoli who posted a fake news story about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and commented she “needs a round”…and I don’t mean the kind she used to serve.” has been fired, along with a fellow office who “liked” the post, after an apparent “tidal wave” of protest rolled into the Gretna Police Department over the weekend.

Nola.com

“The Gretna Police Department fired two officers Monday after an incident in which one posted a comment on Facebook last week that suggested U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should be shot.

The author of the post, Charlie Rispoli, and another officer who “liked” it, Angelo Varisco, have been fired, Gretna police chief Arthur Lawson announced at a press conference Monday afternoon.

“This incident, we feel, has been an embarrassment to our department,” he said. “These officers have certainly acted in a manner which was unprofessional, alluding to a violent act be conducted against a sitting U.S. (congresswoman), a member of our government (and) we are not going to tolerate that.”

Chief Lawson was surprised that any of his officers could be so stupid, particularly after his Dept. had printed out warnings explaining that Philadelphia had taken 72 officers off the street because of similar social media abuse.

Lawson did the right thing here, but he also volunteered that an outpouring of public outrage had informed his decision.

“Lawson also noted that his office was besieged by phone calls over he weekend, calling the incident “a ripple in a pond that became a tidal wave.”

And made excuses for the officer:

“Lawson denied requests by the media to release photos of Rispoli and Varisco. He repeated that he does not think the post constituted a legitimate threat. He said he spoke to both officers, and described Rispoli as remorseful and as a typically mild-mannered person who made a bad decision “in the heat of the moment.”

Congratulations to all that called or emailed to put the heat on the Chief to do some housecleaning.

Now he needs to flag the offender’s file to make sure the punishment sticks and Rispoli and his cohort are not hired to wear a badge in the next parish over.

They have no business in law enforcement.

But it sounds like they’d fit right into Trump’s DHS…

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1 COMMENT

  1. Can we all just take a minute to appreciate that every time damn near anyone outside the Trump Cone of White Privilege does something like this loudly and publicly, they pay for it? They lose their reputations, their jobs and more recently and infamously, their freedom. That speaks volumes on how shallow support for Trump’s loud and proud white nationalism goes. And would you look at that…Mr. Tangerine Man is pouring gasoline on that fire.

  2. I agree with the firing. I don’t agree that they should never work in law enforcement again. People need to be given some space to learn from their mistakes and reform.

    This officer was fired, and the unemployment should be a lesson for him. I know we all want to be mean and vindictive in this tribal environment… I just can’t being myself to be vindictive. I’m just tired of how angry everyone is all the time.

      • The only place you have no right to say nasty or even slightly critical things about the sainted “AOC” is DailyKos, now officially the AOC Adoration Society. No one should be saying anyone deserves to be shot or even that they should die. I feel worse for Ilhan Omar though because there is nothing she can do to take the target off her back; it’s embedded in who she is.

      • The one who “liked” the comment might perhaps be given some space to learn. It’s much easier to “like” something inappropriate than it is to actually put it onto words. The one who wrote and posted that comment is a bully. Bullies don’t belong in law enforcement (although God knows there are boatloads of them who are.) It’s not a question of being vindictive. It’s a question of building a society which works. If Rory is that opposed to a lifetime ban, perhaps he would consider, say, a ten-year moratorium, preferably with a requirement of “passing” a psychological test before return to LE work.

      • I don’t actually disagree with you…I was just cranky owing to a heat wave when I wrote that, and might have sounded like I disagreed.

        If a law enforcement official threatens anyone in that manner, there should be repercussions. Firing is an extreme sanction, but it was an extreme comment. Given that this person in entrusted with a firearm to protect the public, removing them from the positions is probably the right move.

        What I was commenting on is more the tribal vitriol, hatred and anger that we all seem steeped in all of the time. We can support punishing this officer without hating him…we can condemn a single action without condemning the man, or an entire group.

        Dr. King taught that violence is an ever-descending spiral. Hatred and anger are part of that same cycle. The left should dedicate themselves to elevating ourselves above that cycle and breaking it…not playing a role in perpetuating it.

        I’m not saying you were overtly doing that…but there is an increasing tendency for us on the left to create a group of Trump “others” that we can treat with as much denigration as they treat minorities, and while I don’t know the answer to how we deal with that, I’m not sure that anger will be helpful in the long run.

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