A former British police officer has been sentenced to 20 weeks in prison for sending racist memes to a WhatsApp group, including about the death of George Floyd.
James Watts, 31, shared posts in May and June 2020 group chats with former colleagues from the prison where he worked.
At the time of taking over his post, Watts was working for West Mercury Police, southwest of Birmingham, England.
He resigned after police launched an investigation into the locations. He was charged with 10 counts for sending offensive messages, including one in which a white dog was dressed as a Ku Klux Klan, the other was shown a knee rug with Floyd’s face printed on it. and used Floyd’s death jokes from the cartoon character Giorgio. And the game for kids Guess Who! This was reported by the Guardian.
Floyd, a black man, was killed in May 2020 by a Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. His death has caused an international outcry over police brutality.
According to The Guardian, Watts ‘verdict in Birmingham Magistrates’ Court said on Tuesday that Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram had “undermined public confidence in the police.”
“You were a police officer at the time of these crimes – someone the public is looking for in law – but you did the opposite,” he told the Guardian.
“Your behavior makes the criminal system completely disrespectful.” The racial hatred you have shown makes this insult so serious that I can’t afford community fines or punishment. “
The judge also said he “has no doubt” that Watts received training in diversity and inclusion while working as a prison officer. Reported by the BBC.
Watts’ name was also added to the list of banned police colleges, thus permanently banning him from policing nationwide. Worcester News.
Many law enforcement agencies in many U.S. states have also suffered the consequences – albeit not so severe – of posting racist messages AND memes on their personal social media pages amid more intense investigations of public on police conduct after Floyd’s death. . Some have been removed OR investigated for annoying online behavior.
U.S. police officers have been repeatedly linked to the dissemination of extremist content on social media. In 2019, A Newspaper Investigation Reveals We found that hundreds of active and retired U.S. law enforcement officers are members of Confederate, anti-Islamic, anti-feminist, or anti-government militia groups on Facebook.
Source: Huffpost
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.