A Virginia police officer has joined a growing list of public employees allegedly connected to a white supremacist organization. Now his job is on the line.
School resource officer Daniel Morley has been placed on leave and recommended for termination amid allegations he is a member of Identity Evropa, a white supremacist group. It was Chesterfield County Police Chief Jeffrey Katz that called for Morley’s firing after the department was accused of having ties to the hate group.
Daniel Morley has been a member of white nationalist group Identity Evropa since at least November 2017, according to leaked messages. (Twitter / video screenshot)
In a statement to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Chief Katz wrote: “We’re concerned and committed to determining if there is any truth to these allegations. There is absolutely no place for intolerance or prejudicial behavior in public service, [and] we will not tolerate affiliations which even remotely lend themselves to predispositions of bias.”
Morley, 31, was an SRO at L.C. Bird High School in the Richmond suburb of Chesterfield but also held down a side gig as an organizer for Identity Evropa, according to HuffPost. The group, which recently rebranded itself as the “American Identity Movement,” tasked Morley with aiding new recruits during the application process.
In recent years, the organization has made efforts to recruit impressionable white young males on college campuses across the U.S. and also played a role in organizing the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., that left one woman dead and several others injured.
The news comes nearly a week after anti-fascist activists identified Morlely while poring through troves of Identity Evropa chat log messages leaked by independent media group Unicorn Riot earlier this week. An antifa branch in Colorado Springs, Colo., tipped off Chesterfield police about the embattled cop, claiming he has a history of espousing racist views on white nationalist forums like Stormfront, as well as Evropa’s private chat server since 2017.
“Good afternoon newcomers to IE! I’m the new pledge coordinator,” Morely wrote to new recruits in September post, according to the Daily Beast. “My job is to help guide people through the process of applying to IE and becoming full members of this great organization.
“If you have any questions about what you need to do next, DM me and I’ll get back to you,” he added.
The new website went on to report that “Morley also used the name ‘Danimal876’ on other forums where he expressed racist views and shared personally identifying information. A YouTube user of the same name has liked seven videos, all of which discuss white supremacist talking points.”
Morley’s suspension follows Unicorn Riot’s leak of more than 700,000 messages linking numerous officials and public employees to white nationalism. Earlier this week, the group uncovered seven current members of the U.S. Military who were also part of Identity Evropa: one member of the Air Force, two Army ROTC cadets, two Marines, and an Army physician.
After his suspension, Katz said Monday that Morley was interviewed by the department’s Office of Professional Standards. The embattled officer now has five days to respond to the accusations against him.
Last August, the Chesterfield Police Department posted video of Morley introducing himself as Bird High School’s newest resource officer.
“I want to ensure that the children of this county get to have the same safe childhood that I did growing up,” he says in the clip.
Here’s the new SRO for L.C. Bird High School, Officer Morley! @lcbirdprincipal @ccpsinfo @ccpdcomsvcs @CCPDVa pic.twitter.com/bQTZF2clDz
— Major Andrea Riesmeyer (@ARiesmeyer) August 27, 2018
