Louisiana police officer fired for saying ‘unfortunate’ coronavirus has not killed more black people

Police said more comments were found that ‘not suitable for a police officer to be putting on Facebook’

A Louisiana police officer was fired after he said on Facebook that it was “unfortunate” coronavirus did not kill more black people.

Kaplan police officer Steven Aucoin posted the racist comment below a local news station’s Facebook live feed that was broadcasting the state governor’s Covid-19 news conference on 15 May.

The chief of police in Kaplan, about 22 miles (35.4 km) southwest of Lafayette, said Mr Aucoin was dismissed later that day.

According to local news station KLFY, Mr Austin’s comments on Facebook came after another person wrote “[the] virus that was created to kill all the BLACKS is death.”

“Well it didn’t work,” screenshots show Mr Aucoin wrote in response, “how unfortunate”.

Joshua Hardy, who head’s Kaplan’s police department, told KLFY news that Mr Aucoin’s actions were not tolerable.

“We’re held to a higher standard than normal civilians, so you got to watch what you do, you got to watch what you say,” said Mr Hardy. “You can’t just go and post anything you want on social media”.

The police department also said in a statement on Facebook that it apologised for Mr Aucoin’s comments, and were investigating.

Mr Hardy said that other comments were also found, attributed to Mr Aucoin, which were “not suitable for a police officer to be putting on Facebook”.

Mr Aucoin, who worked previously for the police department for eight months, had been back on the force for about three months before he was dismissed, said NBC News.

People commented on the police department’s Facebook page to praise the dismissal, with one person saying: “Your willingness to serve notice on bigotry and ignorance is a genuine representation of redoubtable leadership that is necessary during these difficult times.”

African Americans have been amongst the worst affected during the Covid-19 pandemic in the US, which saw the death toll pass 100,000 on Wednesday.

It comes amid nationwide anger at police treatment towards black Americans after the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmed Arbery.