NEW YORK — A Brooklyn court officer was suspended and had her gun taken away after she posted a racist meme depicting former President Barack Obama being lynched.
Sgt. Terri Pinto Napolitano posted the meme on her Facebook page over the weekend, showing Obama swinging from a noose, according to screen grabs shared with the New York Daily News.
“We will not yield,” the meme posted by Napolitano reads. “Your day is coming TRAITOR.”
In another meme posted alongside, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is led to the gallows. The text that goes with the image says, “IT’S NOT OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SWINGS.”
Napolitano was suspended for 30 days without pay, had her gun taken, and an investigation was opened by the state court system’s inspector general to determine if more disciplinary action will be taken, an Office of Court Administration spokesman told the Daily News.
“It has come to our attention that a Unified Court System employee recently posted on Facebook a vile, racist photo,” wrote OCA Chief Judge Janet DiFiore in a letter to staff Saturday.
“This conduct is abhorrent, by anyone, at any time, and under any circumstances. But at this critical moment in our history — when our nation is reeling from the death of George Floyd and its aftermath — it is a sickening and unpardonable offense against every colleague in our court system.”
Court officers also responded directly on Napolitano’s post.
“A Black man hanging on a noose is never appropriate but especially not in times like the ones we are living in today,” wrote one court officer responding to Napolitano’s post.
The court officers union did not lend Napolitano support, saying in a post that it does “not condone the conduct of Sgt. Napolitano and her racist Facebook posts,” along with the hashtags, #blacklivesmatter and #nyscourts.
Napolitano did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
———
©2020 New York Daily News
Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.