Miami-Dade Schools Probe Racist Posts By Cops
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Much of July has been a time of unrest over the fatal shootings of black men by police.
Now, the Miami-Dade School District is investigating whether some former and current Miami-Dade schools cops might be adding fuel to the fire.
Mindy Gross, a former schools officer, has a Facebook page where she posted an article from former Congressman Allen West's website -- an article titled "Here's what liberals don't want you to know about Louisiana shooting victim."
The article details the criminal history of Alton Sterling, shot dead by police in Baton Rouge.
Former cop Gross posted a message with the article calling the dead man "a piece of garbage the world is better off without."
Kennedy Fell, another former schools cop embellished with a profane, racist rant of his own, also condemning the dead man.
And Armando Calzadilla, an active Miami-Dade schools officer "liked" the posts on Facebook.
"It makes my stomach turn is what it does," said Brad Brown, immediate past president of the Miami-Dade NAACP.
Brown worries what a few, ugly Facebook messages might represent.
"That many officers expressing that viewpoint are undoubtedly indicative of a significantly larger number who hold those feelings, and don't need to be on the police force," Brown told CBS4 News.
Schools Police Chief Ian Moffett issued a statement saying he had launched "an investigation into this matter, based on our social media policy... code of ethics... and school district policy involving one of our current officers."
Moffett said his internal affairs investigators will look for anyone on the force that may have engaged in the offensive Facebooking.
"Any active employees that are found in violation will face the appropriate consequences," the chief said in his statement.
Moffett called the Facebook postings sad and not representative of law enforcement.
The chief stressed that the department learned of the hateful messages from other officers who found them offensive and reported them.
