Chief: Indiana police recruit fired for ties to neo-Nazis

Authored by abcnews.go.com and submitted by Ready_Mouse

Chief: Indiana police recruit fired for ties to neo-Nazis A police recruit in northwestern Indiana has been fired after a department investigation found he was involved in a neo-Nazi online chat forum in 2016

LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A police recruit in northwestern Indiana was fired less than 24 hours after the department was notified that the officer was involved in a neo-Nazi online chat forum.

The department’s internal affairs division concluded the information was “accurate and credible,” and Zacharek was terminated, according to a Saturday news release from Chief Patrick Flannelly.

The chat forum disbanded in 2017, but its posts were leaked online late last year, according to the Lafayette Journal & Courier.

Flannelly told the newspaper that Zacharek was called into the station Friday and admitted the comments were his. He was fired by noon the next day.

“Officer Zacharek’s comments were not in harmony with the spirit of cooperation and inclusion in the community that the Lafayette Police Department values,” Flannelly said in the release.

The department said that Zacharek had been in training and had “no exposure to the public.”

The department acknowledged that it did not discover the information prior to hiring Zacharek despite conducting “very thorough and complete background investigations on potential employees,” which includes a review of social media accounts, according to the statement.

Flannelly told the newspaper the department would review its background check processes.

Attempts to reach Zacharek on Sunday were unsuccessful. No listed phone number could be located for him. Police Lieutenant Matt Gard said the department was unable to provide Zacharek's contact information. A listed number for the police union in Lafayette was disconnected. It was not immediately clear if Zacharek had an attorney.

texas-is-the-reason on October 18th, 2020 at 22:11 UTC »

He was part of this infamous “chat” group.

I always knew we had some of these problems in the US with law enforcement and elsewhere. But it’s ridiculous that Nazis are getting any traction here. Or trying to go by other names. Or trying to claim freedom of speech. Fuck you, Nazis.

Edit: For the record, I never said they don’t have freedom of speech. I was saying they try to claim that they stand for freedom of speech when all that does is switch the conversation from 6 million dead Jews to freedom of speech. Never knew the Nazis to be big freedom of speech people.

I also never said not to read multiple sources. I never said it was only in law enforcement. I never said anything about the right or left. I said fuck Nazis. And if you need multiple sources to check that or need to talk about what “the other side” does when you hear me say that, then fuck you too.

EpsilonRider on October 18th, 2020 at 21:17 UTC »

Flannelly told the newspaper that Zacharek was called into the station Friday and admitted the comments were his. He was fired by noon the next day.

Can someone tell me if him being a recruit was why they were able to fire him? I can't imagine any police department being able to fire a police officer the next day like that because of police unions.

kvckeywest on October 18th, 2020 at 20:22 UTC »

The FBI warned over 10 years ago about white supremacists in law enforcement.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/fbi-white-supremacists-in-law-enforcement