Sara Erwin, a police officer in Hopewell Township, New Jersey, has been fired after she compared the Black Lives Matter movement to “terrorists” in a post on social media.
NJ.com reports that Erwin was fired for the post she made on Facebook, while officer Sgt. Mandy Grey will be suspended for six months for replying to a comment. Prior to her firing, Erwin and other employees of the police department were under investigation for their conduct. Former Police Chief Lance Maloney, who has since retired, apologized for the comments, and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Officer concluded that no criminal behavior was found.
A total of six employees from the department were placed on leave as a result of their interactions with the post. In addition to the post, which can be read below, Erwin said that anyone who supported Black Lives Matter should “unfriend” her.
“Last night as I left for work I had my two kids crying for me not to go to work. I don’t think I’ve ever felt the way I did last night,” Erwin wrote in the post, which was shared in June 2020, around the same time that demonstrators took to the streets to demand justice over police brutality and systemic racism. “And then I watched people I know and others I care about going into harms way. I love my police family like my own,” she added.
Erwin concluded the ill-advised Facebook post by expressing her fear of protesters, failing to realize that they were sparked by police failing to be held accountable. “So when you share posts and things on Facebook I’d really appreciate if you’d THINK before doing so,” she wrote. “I’ve seen so many black lives matter [sic] hashtags in these posts. Just to let you know—they are terrorists. They hate me. They hate my uniform. They don’t care if I die.”
As a result of the disciplinary actions against them, appeals in the Superior Court are underway. Erwin is asking for her job back, while Grey is asking to not be demoted and have her six-month suspension stopped. In a statement, Hopewell Township Police Director Robert Karmazin, who has been heading the department since November, said the matter is “in active litigation … [we] will have no further comment at this time.”
