An Ohio police officer will be put on paid administrative leave after allegedly calling a Black Lives Matter activist's suicide a "happy ending" in a Facebook comment.
Fairborn officer Lee Cyr is said to have posted the comment under a link about the activist's suicide, writing, "Love a happy ending," though it has since been deleted.
MarShawn McCarrel, 23, fatally shot himself on the steps of the Ohio statehouse on Monday. Earlier that day, he'd written on Facebook that his "demons won today."
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));My demons won today. I'm sorry.Posted by MarShawn McCarrel on Monday, February 8, 2016
McCarrell had worked with the community organizations Ohio Student Association and Pursuing Our Dreams. He'd also co-founded Feed the Streets, a group that provided lunches for the homeless.
Cyr will be on leave while his department determines whether he was the person behind the post, and whether or not his actions violated the department's social media policy.
Fairborn officers aren't allowed to write anything on social media while on duty. Cyr was off duty, but Fairborn Police Chief Terry Barlow told the Dayton Daily News that posts that could "discredit" the police are also against department policy.
"We take this seriously," Barlow said. "We will ensure the professional standards of the department are upheld.”