A San Jose police officer has been kicked off the force for controversial tweets regarding the Black Lives Matter movement that garnered national attention late last year. The department confirmed the departure of Phillip White last Wednesday after having previously condemned the tweets, along with numerous city officials and the police union.
Critics said White’s statements weren’t just offensive, but threatening.
"Threaten me or my family and I will use my God given and law appointed right and duty to kill you,” one tweet read. It was accompanied by the hashtag, “CopsLivesMatter.”
"By the way,” the officer wrote, “if anyone feels they can't breathe or their lives matter I'll be at the movies tonight, off duty, carrying my gun."
National reaction to the tweets was swift and intense, and included protests outside San Jose Police Department headquarters. The Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office also reviewed the incident but declined to file any charges.
White’s termination concludes a more than 20-year career with the San Jose Police Department.
Read more about the officer’s firing here.
Image Credit: Flickr User otto-yamamoto, https://flic.kr/p/wbKkaG via (CC BY-SA 2.0)