The police officer who made the Facebook post suggesting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) be shot has been fired, along with another officer that “liked” the post.
Gretna Police officer Charlie Rispoli created the post recently. It was captured by the New Orleans Advocate before he deleted his account and circulated widely online.
Police Chief Arthur Lawson said at a July 22 press conference that Rispoli and the officer who clicked “like,” Angelo Varisco, were fired for violating the department’s social media policy, reported WWL-TV.
“This incident, we feel, has been an embarrassment to our department,” Lawson said. “These officers certainly acted in a manner which was unprofessional.”
“Alluding to a violent act to be conducted against a sitting U.S. congressman, a member of our government, we’re not going to tolerate that,” Lawson added.
Lawson said his office received a deluge of phone calls and that officials are still investigating Rispoli’s post. The department asked Facebook about who had “liked” the post since Rispoli had deleted it. He had not heard back from Facebook as of the press conference, reported The New Orleans Advocate.
Lawson said all officers must sign a social media policy from the department, and added that he gave all officers a print out of a news story in June about 72 officers in Philadelphia being disciplined over posts they made on social media.
“With all of those efforts, something like this still happens,” he said. “It’s very disturbing. It shows a lack of the officer paying attention to what’s going on in the world around him.”
Gretna police officer suggests U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ‘needs a round’ in social media post https://t.co/3IvYbiiTtS via @nolanews
— Chad Calder (@Chad_Calder) July 20, 2019
The post by Rispoli, which was later deleted, was sharing an article about remarks Ocasio-Cortez allegedly made about the budget. It appeared to be a story from a “satirical” website that included quotes the lawmaker has never made.
“This vile idiot needs a round,” Rispoli wrote. “And I don’t mean the kind she used to serve,” he added, referring to the lawmaker’s past job as a bartender. Commenting on his own post, Rispoli added: “It must be hard living with the IQ of a Chiclet.”
Noting that the story Rispoli shared and commented on wasn’t true, the police chief told reporters: “You see in social media where people don’t read what they’re reading and they don’t comprehend what they’re reading. They take a caption and react, read a headline and react to it. It’s a shame, but it’s the world we’re living in now. It’s sad but it’s something we just can’t tolerate.”
Ocasio-Cortez reacted to the post by trying to blame President Donald Trump.
This is Trump’s goal when he uses targeted language & threatens elected officials who don’t agree w/ his political agenda. It’s authoritarian behavior.
The President is sowing violence. He’s creating an environment where people can get hurt & he claims plausible deniability. https://t.co/GuYKPGzSLm
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 22, 2019
“This is Trump’s goal when he uses targeted language & threatens elected officials who don’t agree w/ his political agenda. It’s authoritarian behavior,” she wrote on Twitter.
“The President is sowing violence. He’s creating an environment where people can get hurt & he claims plausible deniability.”
Trump has since mid-July noted that the New York lawmaker and her close allies, referred to by some as the “Squad,” regularly denigrate America and are attempting to institute large-scale changes to the country.
The president said that the lawmakers should consider leaving if they dislike America and should apologize for their past remarks.
“I don’t believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country. They should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said,” he wrote on July 21. “They are destroying the Democrat Party, but are weak & insecure people who can never destroy our great Nation!”
