A police officer in Massachusetts is under investigation after he wrote “love this” in response to a Facebook post about Saturday’s deadly attack on counterprotesters of a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to multiple reports.
Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri told The Associated Press that he opened an investigation into the officer Sunday after receiving a complaint about the comment.
"Hahahaha love this, maybe people shouldn't block road ways," Officer Conrad Lavriviere wrote on a Facebook post of a story about the attack, the AP reported.
A screen shot of the post, which has since been deleted, showed Lariviere was responding to an article headlined "HORROR: Car Plows Into Protesters In Charlottesville; One Dead, 19 Injured," MassLive.com reported.
Lariviere told the news website that he was sorry for what he called “a stupid comment about people blocking streets.”
"Never would I want someone to get murdered," he told Masslive.com. "I am not a racist and don't believe in what any of those protesters are doing. I'm a good man who made a stupid comment and would just like to be left alone."
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno called the comments "unbelievable," according to Patch.com.
“There is no place for this in our society, let alone from a Springfield police officer,” Sarno said. “This is not an overall reflection of our men and women in blue, who serve with honor, courage and compassion.”
Police in Virginia arrested James Alex Fields Jr., 20, on charges including second-degree murder after authorities said he slammed a Dodge Challenger into two stopped cars and counterprotesters who opposed Saturday’s Unite the Right rally, which was aimed at protesting the removal of a Confederate monument from the city’s Emancipation Park.
The accident claimed the life of Heather Heayer, 32, and injured 19 others, Charlottesville police said.
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