A St. Louis County police officer has been put on administrative leave after a video emerged of him giving a speech in which he complains about our "undocumented president," hate-crime laws, the Supreme Court, and Muslims, and boasts about his prowess as a killer, reports USA Today. Police chief Jon Belmar said he watched the hour-long video himself after CNN brought it to his attention and immediately put 35-year veteran officer Dan Page on leave pending an internal-affairs investigation and a psychological review. "I don't legally have the authority to fire an individual like that," said the chief. "I will tell you that if he were a probationary officer ... I would have fired him an hour and a half ago."
Page, who first came to CNN's attention when he physically forced reporter Don Lemon to move during a live broadcast, gave the speech in 2012 to a group called Oath Keepers, described as former police and military personnel committed to disobeying rules they feel violate the Constitution. Some excerpts, culled by USA Today and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
- "Muslims are passive until they gain parity with you or they exceed you in numbers and they will kill you."
- "I personally believe in Jesus Christ as my lord savior, but I'm also a killer. I’ve killed a lot. And if I need to, I'll kill a whole bunch more. If you don't want to get killed, don't show up in front of me, it's that simple."
- "I'm into diversity. I kill everybody, I don't care."
- Page said he took early retirement from the military because he won't take orders from "an undocumented president."
- "We have no business passing hate-crime laws—none—because we're setting aside a group of people special."
- He referred to Supreme Court justices as "black-robed perverts."
Another St. Louis-area cop, Glendale officer Matthew Pappert, was suspended after he posted on social media that the Ferguson protesters should have been "put down like rabid dogs." (More
Ferguson, Missouri stories.)
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