US cops’ posts to private Facebook group show hostility, hate

A file photo of a woman raising her hands in front of stopped traffic after more than 150 people took over Interstate 376, known as Pittsburgh's Parkway East, in both directions, to protest the fatal shooting of Rose by an East Pittsburgh police officer. In a private Facebook group called the Pittsburgh Area Police Breakroom, many current and retired officers spent the year criticising chiefs that took a knee or officers who marched with Black Lives Matter protesters, who they called ‘terrorists’ or ‘thugs’. — Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP

PITTSBURGH: In a private Facebook group called the Pittsburgh Area Police Breakroom, many current and retired officers spent the year criticising chiefs who took a knee or officers who marched with Black Lives Matter protesters, whom they called “terrorists” or “thugs”. They made transphobic posts and bullied members who supported anti-police brutality protesters or Joe Biden in a forum billed as a place officers can “decompress, rant, share ideas”.

Many of the deluge of daily posts were jokes about the hardships of being officers, memorials to deceased colleagues or conversations about training and equipment. But over the group’s almost four-year existence, a few dozen members became more vocal with posts that shifted toward pro-Donald Trump memes and harsh criticism of anyone perceived to support so-called “demoncrats”, Black Lives Matter or coronavirus safety measures.