A Louisiana police officer has been fired over his Facebook comment that appears to lament that more black people didn’t die from the coronavirus.
Steven Aucoin, an officer with the Kaplan Police Department, made an off-color comment under a local news station's live feed of Gov. John Bel Edwards' news conference on the virus May 15. He made the comment that it was "unfortunate" that more black people did not die from COVID-19 on the Facebook page of CBS affiliate KLFY, according to NBC News. He was fired the same day, according to reports.
Aucoin appeared to respond to a Facebook user who said “virus that was created to kill all the BLACKS is death.”
“Well it didn’t work,” Aucoin wrote, “how unfortunate,” according to screenshots shown by KLFY.
Kaplan Police Chief Joshua Hardy said the department found the sentiments shared on Facebook by Aucoin unacceptable after a thorough investigation of the entire thread, according to KLFY.
“We’re held to a higher standard than normal civilians, so you got to watch what you do, you got to watch what you say. You can’t just go and post anything you want on social media,” the police chief said.
Aucoin previously had worked for the department for eight months and had been back on the force for about three months before he was let go, a spokeswoman for the police department told NBC News.
Some say the comment might have been misconstrued because Facebook’s comment threading no longer aligns comments by chronological order. There’s a chance the comment was not racist, Louisiana native Joshua Brothers, a firefighter, told the Lafayette, Louisiana, news station.
“It’s not a timeline thing. Relevant newer comments might be above. Some comments aren’t listed at all,” Brothers said. “I just want to see the true story brought out to light, you know, regardless of what it is. But I don’t believe that was his intent,” he said.
The department said the one comment was not the only issue for Aucoin. He had made additional comments in the thread that were not in compliance with their social media policy.
“There were some comments that were further up that was not suitable for a police officer to put up on Facebook,” Hardy said in an interview.
Nearly 40,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Louisiana, according to Wednesday’s latest national data. More than 2,700 have died from the virus in the state.
With the gravity of the virus hitting the state and the country, several Facebook users showed support for the Kaplan Police Department’s response.
“I applaud your swift and decisive action regarding this matter,” one Louisiana resident wrote. “Your willingness to serve notice on bigotry and ignorance is a genuine representation of redoubtable leadership that is necessary during these difficult times.”
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