Former Kentucky assistant police chief to recruit: ‘If you see black teens smoking pot, shoot them’

During an exchange of messages with a Louisville Metro Police recruit, former Kentucky assistant police chief sent numerous racist messages, including one that said if the recruit were to were see black teens smoking pot, he should shoot them, the Courier Journal reports.

According to a letter sent by Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell to Prospect, Kentucky Mayor John Evans, the messages were sent by Todd Shaw, who had previously worked for 20 years has a Louisville police officer. He was suspended and then fired from the force last year.

In the letter to Mayor Evans, O’Connell said Shaw was referencing a paper the recruit was supposed to write for training in which the theme was “the right thing to do.” Shaw instructed the recruit on what to do if he encountered three juveniles smoking marijuana.

“F*** the right thing,” Shaw stated. “If black shoot them.”

Shaw then gave the recruit instructions on how to handle the parents of a pot-smoking juvenile, which included performing sex acts on the parents. “Unless daddy is black. Then shoot him,” Shaw wrote.

“ML King was nothing but a [racist] womanizer … but because someone shot him, I get a day off with pay each year,” he added.

Shaw had fought to keep the messages private but a judge ruled this week that they had to made available to the public.

LMPD Chief Steve Conrad said in a statement that he was “disgusted by the shocking and appalling” comments.

“Any person who holds these thoughts has no business ever donning a uniform and representing those who have sworn to serve every member of every community,” Conrad’s statement read. “These actions spit in the face of the determined effort hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers put forth to build trust and legitimacy in the communities they serve.”

From USA Today:

O’Connell told Evans that prosecutors found the Facebook messages while reviewing whether Shaw should be prosecuted for allegedly interfering in the sexual abuse investigation of the Metro Police Explorer Program.

O’Connell said Shaw sent the private Facebook messages in September and October 2016.

The county attorney’s office said it would move to dismiss two dozen District Court cases in which Shaw was the sole witness, regardless of whether the defendants were black.

According to reports, the recruit ultimately was not hired by the Louisville Metro Police.

Featured image via ABC News