SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4 News)- A disturbing comment on the ABC4 Utah Facebook page Thursday afternoon is under investigation by local law enforcement.
The comment was made in regards to protests in Utah planned this weekend after a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd, was killed while in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day.
The person who commented claimed she was the wife of an officer and that she “supports this officer 100 percent” [meaning the officer involved in the death of George Floyd].
When questioned, she said he took “one less black person off the streets,” and that she supports his actions.
There was immediate outrage in response to her comments. Before long the Facebook page was deleted as were the comments on the ABC4 Facebook page.
ABC4 makes every effort to review all comments made via our social media platforms, moderating those that violate ours and Facebook’s respective terms and conditions. In this situation, the commenter deleted the comments and page before we had an opportunity to take further action.
Internet sleuths found the woman’s last name matched the last name of an officer within the Kaysville Police Department.
ABC4 spoke with Kaysville police; they confirmed they have opened an investigation on the matter but said the officer and his wife strongly denied the allegations.
They said the couple “expressed concern that a fake profile may have been created to post the comments.”
The FBI’s cyber terrorism unit is now investigating.
“The Kaysville Police Department strongly condemns these comments from whoever posted them, but especially if it was from an officer or any of their family members or associates,” a statement from Lieutenant Paul Thompson of Kaysville City Police read.
“We are committed to finding the truth in this matter and enforcing any violation of policy or law to the fullest extent possible.”
Investigators are asking anyone that might have gotten a screenshot of the commenter’s Facebook page to send it their way.
