A social media post unearthed in the aftermath of a man’s death while in the custody of Minneapolis police has resulted in a Georgia officer’s firing, authorities said.
It was a photo of a Latino officer wearing a cosmetic mask and posing with his girlfriend. The mask was black, and the photo was captioned, “I date a black man.”
Former Thomaston police officer Walter Navarro shared the photo with friends on Snapchat earlier this month, he told his supervisors. It reappeared after Navarro shared another police officer’s Facebook post condemning the actions of the Minneapolis officers involved in George Floyd’s death, and an unknown person posted the Snapchat photo to Facebook in response.
There were calls to find and expose “the racist people” in the photo.
“After hearing all the facts, and reviewing the picture, we decided that posing and disseminating a photograph of this nature on social media, regardless of the original intent, is unacceptable behavior and demonstrates a serious lack in judgment on behalf of a Thomaston police officer,” Chief Michael Richardson said in an email to AJC.com. “It’s an unfortunate situation that has breached the trust of the community and affects the professionalism of the department that we cannot and will not allow at the Thomaston Police Department.”
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Richardson said Navarro went to his supervisor immediately after the Snapchat photo resurfaced. He wore the cosmetic mask at the urging of his girlfriend, he told the supervisor, and the caption was her idea of a joke.
“Navarro indicated that he realizes that it was a very poor lapse in judgment and that he had no intent to offend anyone, and at no time did he paint his face or put this mask on for the sole purpose of making fun of a race,” Richardson said.
The photo was posted to Facebook on Thursday, and Navarro was terminated by the end of the day. While Richardson does not believe Navarro acted with racist intentions, he said the former officer “made an extremely poor decision that had serious consequences.”
“He served the department well and during his two years on the job had never received a single complaint regarding conduct, rudeness, racial bias, or unprofessional behavior or mistreatment of others of any nature,” the chief said. “It was a tough decision to have to make due to his (service) and record with the department, but in the end we serve the public and if the public trust is broken I have the responsibility to fix it.”
The Thomaston incident comes at a particularly fraught time for police-community relations, with turbulent and in some cases violent protests erupting in Minneapolis and across the country following Floyd’s death.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died Monday after four Minneapolis officers said he resisted arrest. Handcuffed, unarmed and lying on the pavement, he pleaded for air as a white police officer kneeled on his neck. His death was captured on video.
RELATED: Who was George Floyd?
The officers have since been fired. On Friday, Officer Derek Chauvin, the officer seen in the video with his knee on Floyd's neck, was taken into custody by Minnesota state authorities.
MORE: Ex-cop allegedly involved in Floyd's death arrested
Richardson publicized Navarro’s termination on Facebook on Thursday night.
“I hope that all young officers can learn from this situation and fully understand that their actions, on or off duty, regardless of intent, can have a tremendous effect on the community and people they serve,” he told AJC.com.
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