The veteran Illinois police officer resigned Tuesday after investigators linked him to violent and fanatical social media posts praising Adolf Hitler and hate crimes.
Springfield Police Department officer Aaron Paul Nichols, 46, resigned after his department announced the investigation into the posts that first appeared. From a group of unknown peers (ACC), a group of anti-fascist scholars.
“Did I find Gin and wish? “Jews will be a distant memory in 72 hours,” Nichols wrote in a post.
The Springfield Police Department said Friday that an investigation into Nichols’ “racist comments” had been initiated and that he had been “deprived of police power.” The department told HuffPost in a statement Tuesday that Nichols, who joined the department in 2004, resigned instead of meeting with investigators.
“The Springfield Police Department is prepared to conduct a full and thorough investigation into Aaron Nichols’ comments and actions despite his resignation, ”the statement read.
The latest revelation comes amid growing FBI concerns that law enforcement has been infiltrated by white supremacists.
Nichols did not respond to repeated requests for comment from HuffPost.
I don’t like the Avalanche
Nichols was first identified Thursday by the ACC, a group of researchers who follow white supremacists and neo-Nazis. The group at HuffPost in its first report helped identify Andrew Casarez, the leader of a neo-Nazi group that loves Dylan’s roof.
Nichols left traces of the breadcrumbs that led to his departure, including sharing details about his family, police presence, and where he was. Several racist Twitter posts named “SPD584” were tracked with the same name on Periscope’s account, which included his full legal name. The researchers linked a Twitter account on the far right social media site to Gab’s eponymous account. In Gab, where extremism and hate speech are rampant, Nichols shared a photo of his partially covered face in one of his anonymous posts.
“When I took power,‘ hate crimes ’were encouraged,” the researchers said in Nicole Gab’s report.
Many of Nichols ’alleged posts deal with the murder of blacks and Jews, the same people whose protection he has sworn to protect for nearly two decades. (Note: some of the posts mentioned contain uncensored racial abuse.)
“I have metal stamps. “I think I’ll just record 14/88 per brunette quarter,” Gab wrote in another post. “Easy.”
The number 14 represents the highest white slogan, while 88 means “HH” or “Heil Hitler”.
“Nigerians are destroying everything,” reads another post. “Even if White steals, they will probably sell meat on the block [sic] Run restaurants or trade with blacks. დ True words. “
Springfield, Illinois has approximately 115,000 people and the SPD has more than 200 police officers. Black citizens make up 20% of the population, according to the 2020 census.
Along with blacks, Nicole’s posts also expressed intense hatred of Jews.
“I will speak English. I am as much of a Holocaust supporter as it is necessary to cleanse this world of the influence of the Talmud. Read an archived post.
“It is disturbing to know that someone in your community has lived with such views,” the letter wrote. “But to understand that such a person is using authority over people he hates is horrible.”
In a post about Nicole last year, one user expressed pride in being a cop.
“I hate the government and have it for almost 3 decades,” reads the post. “The best place I can go is inside the beast. I’ve done very well in my career”.
Source: Huffpost
