FAIR? OR DISCRIMINATORY?
A female highway patrol officer in South Carolina is being investigated for posting “controversial” comments to her Facebook page in the aftermath of last week’s police-related shootings in Louisiana, Minnesota and Dallas, Texas.
First, here is the “offending” comment made by the trooper …
PLEASE delete me if you feel the need to bash the police…I have deleted several already making comments asking God to make sure the police don’t kill them or their sons…GROW UP find something else to complain about. .get a job or do something productive in your community to make a difference instead of just commenting on half biases that don’t even give a true depiction of what half of these situations involved.
According to WPDE TV 15 (ABC – Florence/ Myrtle Beach, S.C.), this comment has resulted in the officer being turned over to an internal watchdog at the S.C. Department of Public Safety (SCDPS), the agency which oversees the S.C. Highway Patrol (SCHP).
Seriously?
For those of you new to this website, we’ve written extensively on alleged black-against-white racial discrimination at SCDPS. Last year, a group called “Troopers FED UP” formed with the expressed purpose of challenging this alleged culture of discrimination.
Despite their efforts, state lawmakers recently reconfirmed governor Nikki Haley‘s SCDPS director, Leroy Smith – even though Smith was found to have falsely alleged white-against-black racial discrimination during his tenure at Florida’s Department of Highway Safety.
Allegations of SCDPS discrimination recently bubbled back to the surface during a S.C. House committee hearing involving Tosha Autry – the agency’s director of human resources.
At the hearing, Autry was asked under oath if she had ever instructed any of her employees to lie to lawmakers. She responded that she had not, at which point an audio tape was played which seemed to indicate she was lying.
“Act like you don’t know what’s going on,” Autry advised an employee on the tape, telling them it was permissible to “tell white lies.”
The sad thing? Autry still has her job … but the trooper who had the audacity to defend herself and her profession on social media is likely going to lose hers.
The trooper under investigation is currently assigned to Troop 1 of the S.C. Highway Patrol – which oversees Clarendon, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Richland and Sumter counties.
We’ll be sure to let our readers know the disposition of her case.