One St. Louis-area police
officer resigned and another retired in the continued fallout from questionable
police actions in the days after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black
teenager in Ferguson, Missouri.
The moves bring to three the
number of police officers whose conduct was called into question after the
August 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an African-American teen shot
multiple times by a white police officer.
The three officers are: Lt. Ray
Albers, who threatened and pointed an assault rifle at protesters; Dan Page, an
officer caught on camera pushing a CNN correspondent before a video surfaced of
him ranting about the Supreme Court and Muslims; and Matthew Pappert, an
officer fired after making what his chief called “very … inappropriate”
Facebook comments about the protests in Ferguson.
Albers, a 20-year veteran of
the St. Ann, Missouri, police department, resigned Thursday, according to City
Administrator Matt Conley.
Albers stepped down after the
city’s board of police commissioners recommended to the board of aldermen that
he be fired or resign, St. Ann Police Chief Aaron Jimenez told CNN on Saturday.
“He’s one of my best friends
but we have to do what’s best for the city,” Jimenez said. “It doesn’t mean
he’s a bad guy, but he made a mistake after 20 years of solving crimes.”
Albers was the officer who
pointed a semiautomatic rifle at a Ferguson protester and threatened to kill
him on August 19 — a tense moment caught on video and posted online.
A day after the incident,
police officials announced that the officer had been “relieved of duty and
suspended indefinitely.”
In the video, Albers can be
seen walking around with his assault rifle raised, then pointing it in the
direction of protesters.
“I’m going to f—ing kill you,”
he says. “Get back. Get back.”
Police said the protester
involved in what it deemed “a verbal exchange” was “peaceful.”
Another man in the crowd said
out loud, “Did you threaten to kill him?”
When the officer was asked for
his name, he responded: “Go f— yourself.”
Protesters mocked the officer
before was led away by another member of law enforcement.
A CNN crew also saw the officer
point his weapon at those around him as he cursed, shouted and threatened
people by saying he’d kill them unless they stayed away.
Jimenez said of Albers: “He’s
not doing well, but he’s trying to stay positive. He knows over his 20 years,
he’s done a lot of good work. You do one thing and it can ruin your career. He
recognized what he did was wrong. That’s his first step in moving on. He feels
remorse. He said he was scared and wasn’t thinking.”
Page, an officer with the St.
Louis County Police Department, retired effective August 25, according to St.
Louis County police spokesman Brian Schellman.
Page was caught on camera
pushing CNN’s Don Lemon. He was placed on administrative leave after a video
surfaced of him ranting about the Supreme Court and Muslims, among other
things.
He also refers on the video to
Barack Obama as “that illegal alien who claims to be our President.”
This week, officials in the
city of Glendale, Missouri, confirmed that Pappert was fired after making what
his chief called “very … inappropriate” Facebook comments, according to a city
official.
“These protesters should be put
down like a rabid dog the first night,” Pappert wrote in one post, according to
CNN affiliate KMOV. There were reportedly five inappropriate posts, KMOV said.
Pappert, a six-year veteran of
the Glendale force, was originally suspended on August 22 after the comments
came to light. An inquiry was initiated that day.
“Officer Pappert was dismissed
following the conclusion of the investigation,” City Administrator Jaysen
Christensen said. “Our focus at this point is to move past this, and turn the
focus back to healing in … Ferguson.”
Glendale, like Ferguson, is a
municipality in St. Louis County. The two suburbs are about 15 miles apart.
A week ago, Glendale Police
Chief Jeffrey Beaton suspended Pappert and cited what he called the
“inappropriate posts on his personal Facebook page,” according to the
Webster-Kirkwood Times, an online news outlet in the area.
Police in the area have come
under fire for their heavy-handed response to the Ferguson protests following
Brown’s death.
An attorney for Pappert said
his client was sorry for his online comments.
“Officer Pappert is deeply
remorseful about what he posted on social media,” lawyer William Goldstein
said. “We ask for (the) same spirit of forgiveness and the opportunity for
redemption.”
