A spokesman for the Ferguson Police Department has been suspended for calling a makeshift memorial to Michael Brown “a pile of trash.”
The memorial marks the spot where the 18-year-old Brown was shot and killed in a confrontation last summer with Ferguson cop Darren Wilson. The shooting prompted protests around the country.
KMOV-TV reported Saturday that the City of Ferguson placed Officer Timothy Zoll on unpaid leave, effective immediately, for his comments. The station said Zoll faces a disciplinary proceeding.
Zoll got in trouble after speaking to a blogger for the Washington Post Friday. The blogger asked about reports on social media that the memorial had been deliberately destroyed by a motorist and if the department was going to investigate.
KMOV said Zoll told the blogger he didn’t know if a crime had occurred and then added, “But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? The Washington Post is making a call over this?”
The City of Ferguson said in a statement the spokesman denied making the comment to his superiors, but later admitted that he’d misled his bosses.
The statement added that “negative remarks about the memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department.”
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