Florida ‘Hot Cop’ Suspended Over Anti-Semitic Facebook Posts
Image by Screenshot/Twitter
(JTA) — A Florida police officer has been suspended with pay after complaints that he posted anti-Semitic comments on his Facebook page.
A selfie of police officer Michael Hamill and two other Gainesville, Florida, police officers was posted on the department’s Facebook page, showing the officers helping the community in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
The photo posted a week ago received at least 181,000 comments, one calling the officers “hunkapotumuses,” and some 517,000 likes and 276,000 shares, the Gainesville Sun reported.
After the photo became popular on social media, several people sent screen shots of anti-Semitic posts by Hamill from 2011 and 2013, years before he joined the police force in 2016.
A post from April 2013 read: “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 better as well. Here is one for everybody, “What’s the difference between boy scouts and jews?” Anybody know? Well it is because “Boy scouts come back from their camps.”
The Gainesville police said in a statement posted on its website: “Several citizens have brought information to our attention regarding complaints against Officer Michael Hamill. GPD takes these allegations extremely seriously. GPD is reviewing the allegations and will do so in accordance to Florida law and department policy. Under Florida Law, complaint information is confidential until an investigation is concluded. The Gainesville Police Department prides itself with our philosophy and mission of compassion, inclusion, and respect and will fully review the matter.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
