A Florida chapter of a major police group is under fire after advertising job openings for officers who have recently been caught engaging in violent incidents amid protests for George Floyd.
“Hey Buffalo 57… and Atlanta 6… we are hiring in Florida. Lower taxes, no spineless leadership, or dumb mayors rambling on at press conferences… Plus… we got your back! #lawandorderFlorida,” reads a Saturday post made on the Brevard County FOP Facebook page, according to Florida Today. The post was deleted on Monday but had garnered over 2,000 comments and 1,000 shares before its removal.
The Fraternal Order of Police is the country’s largest organization of sworn-in law enforcement officers, representing more than 300,000 members in over 2,000 local chapters. Critics say the organization is an obstacle in policing reform due to its deep ties with police unions and advocacy.
The post made by the local Florida chapter refers to officers who recently have been caught in widely condemned incidents throughout two weeks of national unrest over Floyd, a black Minneapolis man who was killed in police custody.
In Buffalo, 57 police officers quit their unit after two of their colleagues were suspended last week for shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground, cracking his skull in an incident caught on video.
Meanwhile, six officers in Atlanta were criminally charged for the arrest of two black college students in which they violently removed the two students from their car, tased them, and slammed them to the ground. One student suffered a broken wrist and a deep gash. The incident was also caught on film, and four of the six charged faced felonies.
Brevard County FOP President Bert Gamin claimed responsibility for the recruitment post, calling the offer legitimate and defending the officers involved with the incidents in Georgia and New York.
“The police had the legal authority in both cases,” he wrote to Florida Today. “At the time the warnings were provided, the citizens were already breaking the law. Those citizens chose to disregard the warnings. It led directly to escalations and confrontations with the police. When we issue lawful commands/warnings, citizens have a responsibility to comply. The reality is failure to comply leads to escalation.”
Gamin also said the Buffalo man who was injured was asked to leave the area and disobeyed police.
“As it specifically relates to the elderly gentleman in Buffalo, he and others were repeatedly warned by the police to leave the area,” he said. “They disobeyed the orders. Those Buffalo officers, like many across this nation, are being placed in absolute no-win situations. That field force unit was ordered to clear the area. They followed the orders they were given and followed their training.”
Protests have broken out over the last two weeks against systemic racism and police brutality. Several cities in the United States have now made efforts to reform policing or reduce funding for their local police departments. A majority of Minneapolis City Council members pledged to dismantle its department on Sunday.
