“The department is aware of allegations that an image was passed in the department and that this image was in the workplace,” the LAPD wrote on its official account. “There are also allegations that the post with the image was written by an employee of the department. A personnel complaint has been filed and we are prosecuting every allegation, including interviewing the department member who brought it to our attention.”
The department said it “did not identify actual workplace postings or establish that it was in fact our department employee who created the image.” It was not known how the image was distributed or where it came from.
“We don’t know the source of that image, be it on social media, in an email, or in some other form. It is unclear at this point whether the image came from an original source outside the LAPD,” Captain Stacy Spell. CNN.
LAPD internal affairs officials said they would interview staff on Monday to learn about conditions surrounding the post, including where and when the person saw it and who is responsible, the official told CNN. It is not clear whether those interviews took place.
The Los Angeles district attorney’s office has also announced that it will review the incident to “determine whether the integrity of any of our cases may have been compromised by biased police work,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.
Celebrating the murder of a black man at the hands of the police demonstrates a profound absence of humanity. The mock Valentine underscores the highly problematic and frankly racist perceptions permeating law enforcement culture regarding the communities we have sworn to protect and to serve, ” Gascón said.
Floyd’s family said it was furious and devastated by the news of the statue’s circulation and called for the immediate termination of the person responsible, attorney Ben Crump said.
The Floyd family is understandably outraged. This goes beyond insult in addition to injury – it is injury in addition to death. Much bigger problem within the culture of the LAPD. We demand that everyone involved be held accountable for their disgusting behavior and that An immediate apology is made to the family, “Crump said in a statement.
Activists also gathered outside an LAPD station on Monday to demand the resignation of agents involved in sharing the message.
“Any LAPD mocking the death of George Floyd must be ended immediately,” Los Angeles activist Najee Ali said at a news conference. “They don’t deserve to wear the LAPD uniform.”
The union representing LAPD officers also calls for those involved to be held accountable.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League rejects this disgusting image and anyone associated with its creation, dissemination or passive observation, the union said in a statement. If that image has been created, ‘liked’ or shared by a member of the LAPD, the chief of police must act quickly to hold those individuals to account. This behavior should not be tolerated in our profession, and any police officer who feels the need to be part of an online group that engages in, promotes and / or celebrates these types of activities should quickly rethink their career choice as they clearly do not have the judgment or have the temperament to be a member of law enforcement. “
CNN’s Jon Passantino and Amir Vera contributed to this report.