A lieutenant with the Baltimore Police Department has been suspended after sending an offensive email about Black Lives Matter activists to fellow officers. The email was sent Sunday evening following protests at a Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) conference, ABC 2 Newsreports. Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis reportedly suspended the lieutenant over the email, in which activists are repeatedly referred to as "thugs," early Monday.
"By now you have seen that the THUGS [sic] from BLM and other similar groups have attempted to disrupt the State FOP Convention being held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel," the lieutenant, confirmed by ABC 2's Brian Kuebler as Victor Gearhart, wrote Sunday. "Well today was check-in day with activities spread over the next 3 days so expect more bad behavior from the THUGS OF BALTIMORE [sic]."
A representative for the Baltimore Police Department told Complex Monday that the matter was being "investigated internally" and was "not representative" of the department as a whole. Furthermore, the department told Complex the commissioner was "outraged" by the email.
The suspension comes shortly after the release of the U.S. Department of Justice's report regarding its probe of the Baltimore Police Department's practices that found the department routinely used excessive force and "improperly interferes with individuals who record police activity," among many other things.
The Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 did not immediately respond to Complex's request for comment.
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