The West Indian American Day Parade, held every Labor Day in the heart of Brooklyn, is one of the largest cultural events in the country. Attended by upwards of 2 million spectators, it's Carnival combined with jerk chicken and the pride of the city's Caribbean community.
On some years, there is violence. As one would expect when you gather 2 million people in the same place.
But, this is a parade for black people, which leads to some rather repulsive racism.
And some of New York's finest were recently busted excreting it on a public Facebook page before it was erased.
The New York Times names names and publishes the shocking language.
Hearing New York police officers speak publicly but candidly about one another and the people they police is rare indeed, especially with their names attached. But for a few days in September, a raw and rude conversation among officers was on Facebook for the world to see — until it vanished for unknown reasons.
“I say have the parade one more year,” wrote a commenter who identified himself as Dan Rodney, “and when they all gather drop a bomb and wipe them all out.” Reached on Monday, Mr. Rodney confirmed that he was a police officer and that he had used Facebook, though rarely, but denied making the comment. “That wasn’t me,” he said before suggesting that someone else might have been responsible. “I leave my phone around sometimes. Other than that I have no comment.”
This Facebook page came to the light of day due to some diligent defense attorneys, who noted that their client's arresting officer had belonged to this group (though--please note--did NOT post any of the offensive messages). Still, the acquittal that resulted was pretty much a done deal given questions like this:
Still, through Mr. Moore’s questions, Justice Bruce M. Balter’s courtroom got an earful of what Mr. Moore described as the bias-riddled police commentary.
Did Sergeant Edwards agree with the posting that described the parade as “ethnic cleansing”? What about the one that said the parade should be “moved to the zoo”? What about the sarcastic one that called working the parade detail useful “ghetto training”?
To its credit, the NYPD is investigating the posts as they violate its policies against disparaging local communities and ethnicities.
But, this remains deeply disturbing--especially since these cops felt sufficiently comfortable to post this hate speech knowing it would be seen by many eyes.