A police officer in Kissimmee, Florida, was fired recently after his racist and politically charged Facebook posts surfaced.
Andrew Johnson, a patrol officer for the Kissimmee Police Department, shared and created several derogatory posts on his page. His news feed was a vortex of pro-Trump conspiracy claims that opposed the Democratic Party, Black Lives Matter movement and antifa. Amid the offensive bluster were thinly veiled threats of violence from the “silent majority,” according to screenshots of his Facebook activity provided to Atlanta Black Star.
Johnson’s woes began on Jan. 12 when an anonymous person forwarded screenshots from 30 of his Facebook posts to the police department’s Internal Affairs unit.
The whistleblower called Johnson “a very big problem” and told police officials he was an avid supporter of the Capitol riots in Washington.
“As you’ll see by the attached screenshots, [he] has posted some very inappropriate things over time,” the email said. “And in having conversations face to face, this man has said some massively concerning things as well. I believe he is incapable of doing his job without bias, which as we know is a massive problem for police in this country.”
After investigators verified that the posts as Johnson’s, commanding officers immediately relieved him of duty and placed him on paid administrative leave. Police Chief Jeffrey O’Dell on Jan. 14 made the suspension permanent when he fired Johnson, who was hired as a patrol officer last March. According to his termination letter, Johnson was still in his one-year probationary period with the department so he’s not entitled to appeal his dismissal.
“The posts he made do not align with our core values here at the Kissimmee Police Department,” department spokeswoman Samantha Scrap said in an email Tuesday.
Johnson’s Facebook page has since been deleted, NBC News reported. Investigators found no evidence that any other Kissimmee police officers engaged with him on Facebook.
Johnson castigated Democrats, circulated crude anti-abortion commentary, and shared threats of civil insurgency from the “silent majority” of former military infantrymen.
On Aug. 27, Johnson shared a meme that quipped Black Lives Matter activists had painted a street mural in honor of Jacob Blake, a Kenosha, Wisconsin, man shot seven times in the back by police. The meme showed a photo of an empty parking space with a handicapped logo painted on the pavement.
“Warning to BLM & Antifa,” advised one post emblazoned over an image of an armed militiaman. “Once you’ve managed to defund and eliminate the police, there’s nobody protecting you from us. Remember that.”
Johnson seemed to revel during the Jan. 6 Capitol Riots, calling it “Day One of the Revolution.”
The inflammatory rhetoric on his page began months earlier. Several nights of protests roiled in Louisville, Kentucky, following the Sept. 23 grand jury decision to indict just one of the three officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s killing. Two Louisville police officers were shot during the first night of protests.
Johnson shared a post that offered prayers to Louisville officers and first responders, and offered his own take on the situation.
“Louisville is the wrong place to do this,” he wrote in a Sept. 24 post. “KY backwoods boys gonna show show up!! They’re gonna FAAFO (an acronym for ‘F–k around and find out’)!!”
He shared a meme calling LeBron James a “true piece of s–t” for not standing for the national anthem, several photos supporting former President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, and a YouTube video of a motorcyclist crashing into Black Lives Matter protesters in Florida. Johnson replied to the video with laughing emojis.
“Civil War is right around the corner,” Johnson ranted in a Sept. 1 post. “It’s coming, prepare for it now.” The same day, he shared a meme that made light of Kyle Rittenhouse allegedly shooting three protesters during an Aug. 25 rally in Kenosha. Two of the protesters were killed.
In an Oct. 8 post, Johnson called for an end to affirmative action programs, calling them “one of the great divides in America.”
In August, he shared a common trope that has circulated social media, comparing white privilege with reverse racism.
“FOR SALE: I’m selling my white privilege card. It’s just over 40 years old and it hasn’t done a damn thing for me,” the post stated. “No inheritance, no free college, no free food, no free housing, etc. I may even be willing to do an even trade for a race card. Those seem way more useful and more widely accepted.
“Interested? Contact me on my non-Obama cell phone that I pay for every month,” it ended.
