This image shows a web post with comments, apparently left by a Kingston Township police officer’s Facebook page, seeming to make light of the death of George Floyd. The original photo is of a sign on a Seattle-area food truck that has recently gone viral online, mocking people who wear face masks incorrectly.
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KINGSTON TWP. — The Kingston Township Police Department has opened a criminal investigation after comments left by an officer’s Facebook account seemed to make light of the death of George Floyd.
The investigation started after comments left on a Facebook post on Monday, from a private Facebook profile linked to newly sworn-in Kingston Township Officer Courtney Hontz. But Kingston Township Police Chief Michael Moravec said that the post is being investigated as a criminal matter, as Hontz has claimed she did not make the post.
The post in question, a photo of a sign on a Seattle-area food truck that has recently gone viral online, mocks people who wear face masks incorrectly.
“Masks go over the mouth and nose; it’s been a year, I could potty train a dog faster than this,” the sign starts, before eventually going on to more explicitly mock those who incorrectly wear masks.
“i CaN’t BrEaThE,” the sign says, using the alternating capitalization that is used in many circles of the internet to indicate the quote is being used mockingly, before saying “GROW UP.”
In a comment below the post, a Facebook user named CM Glocko posted “I CaN’t BrEaThE – George Floyd,” referencing the Black man whose death sparked worldwide protests last summer after a Minneapolis police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Facebook users linked the Glocko user with Hontz.
In a statement issued to members of the media, Moravec said that the situation is currently being treated as a cybercrime, and that the department’s own Facebook page has been shut down as a precaution until the culmination of the investigation.
“The Kingston Township Police Department is currently investigating an alleged cybercrime regarding a Facebook posting that can be construed as being insensitive and racist,” Moravec’s statement said. “The Kingston Township Police Department Facebook page is currently suspended pending the outcome of the criminal investigation. We are committed to a complete, thorough and transparent investigation into this matter and request patience until the result of the investigation is completed.”
During a phone call with a Times Leader reporter, Moravec said that the situation is currently being investigated as if Hontz is the victim of a cybercrime.
The written statement does say, though, that if officer wrongdoing has been determined at the culmination of a thorough internal investigation, then there are “a number of administrative dispositions available.”
Hontz is the first woman to be hired as an officer in the Kingston Township Police Department, only having been hired midway through January.
