This weekend, Gainesville Police Department’s PR department released an image of three handsome police officers hamming it up for the camera with a caption stating that they were part of the night crew for Irma.
Thousands of flirty texts and jokes followed the photograph. By Wednesday afternoon, the post had 430,000 likes, 242,000 shares and 156,000 comments. Gainesville PD had even agreed to create a calendar of sexy police officers to appease the echoing request for such.
People were eager to eat it up, desperate for some good news or anything positive in contrast the immense stress and fatigue experienced by Alachua county and the entirety of Florida during a hurricane and its aftermath. Skeptical of police officers in general and previous ties to the KKK, some folks did a bit of research and found out a little bit more about one of the men behind the badges — and the results were not pretty.
“who knew that reading jewish jokes before I go to bed would not only make me feel better about myself but also help me to sleep" one Facebook post quipped after referencing the fact that the “difference” between Jewish people and boy scouts is that boy scouts were able to return safely.
You know…
Rather than being gassed to death or suffering from any number of atrocities at the hands of men just like him.
Another suggested that the world deals with people complaining about the government and economy by "(putting) them in an oven and deal with them the hitler way."
This is why we can’t have nice things, folks.
Yes, just like “not all men,” not all cops are racist or bigoted. But this guy’s Facebook posts would absolutely suggest otherwise.
This isn’t just Joe Schmo working working at the Verizon store. Michael Gordon Hamill, a man who thought nothing of publically posting anti-semitic comments, holds a position of power and authority in which he chooses who gets to be protected and who is a perceived threat. The man has the power to kill that “perceived threat” in order to protect himself or anyone else.
With evidence of a very clear negative bias, the Gainesville Police Department would be completely negligent to allow this man to continue working as an officer of the law, as the potential for misuse of power or violence is far too great of a risk.
When a police officer shows such distain for a group of people and does so with such clear, undisputable evidence, they simply must go. Not only is the man obviously bigoted, but the posts show that he is flippant about his views and absolutely careless. This isn’t some elderly grocery bagger who you might tolerate his antiquated mildly racist phrases because they’re “too old to learn” and they must earn money to survive; this is a person carrying a loaded firearm with the ability to terminate innocent lives.
GPD spokesman Ben Tobias has yet to go into any detail, but has stated that “The viral post has been removed due to numerous complaints and an ongoing internal review. A statement can be found on GPD's website.”
