COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (AP) — A Florida police department has suspended an officer for writing on Facebook that a student activist who survived a shooting massacre should be run over by a car.
Coconut Creek Police Chief Albert Arenal announced Tuesday that he has suspended Brian Valenti for five days without pay for posting a comment about Marjory Stoneman Douglas High senior David Hogg. The student had organized Friday a “die in” at the Publix supermarket chain over its support of a pro-NRA gubernatorial candidate.
Valenti posted he hoped “some old lady loses control of her car in that lot” under a photo of Hogg.
Valenti deleted the post. Union representative Rod Skirvin told the South Florida SunSentinel the 45-year-old veteran officer was sorry for his actions.
Hogg says he respects the apology, adding that comments like Valenti’s aren’t helpful.
Seventeen people died in the Feb. 14 shooting.
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