Seattle police officer placed on leave after Twitter rants about race, Obama, gays

Source: The Stranger

Sam Byrd is the East Precinct police officer who wrote things like "social justice is nothing more than racism," "the Feds will look for any reason to take over local law enforcement. If the facts aren't there, the facts are fabricated," and much, much more on his Twitter feed, as I reported yesterday.

At about 9 p.m., Seattle police chief Kathleen O'Toole sent out the following department-wide e-mail:

Read more: http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2015/02/07/chief-kathleen-otoole-places-seattle-police-officer-sam-byrd-on-leave

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Earlier:
Seattle Police Officer Ranted on Twitter About Race, Obama, and Gay People
http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2015/02/06/seattle-police-officer-ranted-on-twitter-about-race-obama-and-the-gays

... The @sb1579 Twitter feed was, until recently, listed under Sam Byrd's name. It is a noxious motherlode of unrelenting negativity, with the exception of a few positive shout-outs to Sarah Palin.

... In the feed, which has since been made private, Byrd complains of the following: "the Feds will look for any reason to take over local law enforcement. If the facts aren't there, the facts are fabricated"; there are "no repercussions for crime" in Seattle; gays in Seattle "have more rights and protections than I do"; Mexico is a "third world cesspool"; "social justice is nothing more than racism"; Jay-Z or Beyonce is a "blatant racist"; Barack Obama "know[s] more about basketball than foreign policy"; that Marshawn Lynch cannot "speak properly"; that the Department of Justice will "fabricate evidence" in its investigation of police brutality in Ferguson; that local protesters don't protest "when blacks kill blacks by the thousands every year"; Macklemore is an "imbecile" for protesting the death of Mike Brown; people should "get over" the Washington Redskins' team name; Al Sharpton is a "racist"; "People are too busy looting" for the cops' side of the story to be told in Ferguson; and "There's no incentive to own a business or shop in Seattle" because of the new minimum wage law.