The Ferguson Police Department has placed an officer on unpaid leave after making disrespectful remarks about a memorial for Michael Brown, then lying to his superiors about it. Brown, 18, was shot an killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in August. A St. Louis County grand jury chose not to indict Wilson in November.
On Friday, the Washington Post reached out to Officer Timothy Zoll about the destruction of the memorial, which civilians say was intentional. After saying that he was unaware that any crime had been reported, Zoll referred to the memorial as "trash":
I don’t know that a crime has occurred, Zoll said Friday. But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? The Washington Post is making a call over this?
According to BuzzFeed, the city of Ferguson released a statement yesterday explaining that Zoll's remarks were investigated. Zoll eventually admitted to "[misleading the police department] when asked about the contents of the interview." Below is the complete statement:
Earlier this week, the Public Information Officer for the City of Ferguson Police Department responded to an inquiry from a Washington Post reporter regarding the destruction of the Michael Brown memorial.
Upon being confronted with the results of the Ferguson Police Department’s investigation regarding the remarks that were attributed to the Public Information Officer, the officer admitted to Department investigators that he did in fact make the remarks attributed to him, and that he misled his superiors when asked about the contents of the interview. The officer has been placed on unpaid leave, effective immediately, while disciplinary proceedings begin.
The City of Ferguson wants to emphasize that negative remarks about the Michael Brown memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department and are in direct contradiction to the efforts of City officials to relocate the memorial to a more secure location.
The Ferguson Police Department also wants to note that even after the officer’s initial denial of his statement; the Police Chief continued the investigation until the truth was discovered.
The City of Ferguson and the Ferguson Police Department in particular, are focused on creating a trusting relationship with the entire community and taking impactful steps to improve the effectiveness of the department.
The Post notes that the memorial was rebuilt on Friday morning.
[via Washington Post and BuzzFeed]
