On Wednesday, The Olympian reported that a police officer in Kaplan, Louisiana was terminated after a racist social media comment.
During a live stream of a COVID-19 press conference by Gov. John Bel Edwards, another commenter wrote, "virus that was created to kill all the BLACKS is death." In response, Ofc. Steven Aucoin wrote "Well it didn't work ... how unfortunate."
"The Kaplan Police Department confirmed officer Steven Aucoin’s firing in a Facebook post on May 15, saying it was 'aware of the situation' and dismissed Aucoin after an investigation into comments the officer made online just hours earlier," reported Tanasia Kenney. The department issued a statement saying, "Chief [Joshua] Hardy and the Kaplan Police Department would like to apologize for this matter."
Some residents of Kaplan defended Aucoin, with firefighter Joshua Brothers telling a local news station, “The newest update that Facebook does, it doesn’t put the comments in consecutive order like it used to. It’s not a timeline thing. Relevant newer comments might be above. Some comments aren’t listed at all.”
However, according to The Olympian, Aucoin has a history of racist posts, at one point writing, “I can’t wait until the next part of the plan is implemented and they see what’s in store for their kind."
