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A Chicago police detective is under fire after he allegedly shared hundreds of racist and bigoted social media posts.
According to a report by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, Shawn Popow, a 20-year Chicago police veteran, shared offensive posts on his Twitter and Facebook accounts from 2018 until he was made aware that his online activity was being probed, per ABC 7.
COPA said Popow made "hundreds" of posts under the names "SüdlichePolizei" and @SheepdogCPD.
In one instance, Popow shared an image he admitted to creating that depicted a Black man in a coffin alongside text reading "THAT FACE YOU MAKE WHEN YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT 'STOP RESISTING' MEANS."
Popow said he created the meme to "point out the potentially fatal consequences of not obeying lawful police orders," according to COPA.
More posts included images of a man with a swastika tattoo stomping on a Black man and a picture of a transgender man who was killed by police that listed the victim's pronouns as "was/were."
Popow also allegedly referred to Black people as “worthless ghetto mutts,” “gorilla cookies,” and “Stupid Ass N—r Award,” along with describing two Black people fighting as “a chimpout.”
During an interview with COPA investigators, Popow denied having any racist or other bigoted beliefs and claimed he didn't remember sharing some of the posts due to memory issues related to a medical condition.
The agency recommended the detective be fired over the hundreds of offensive posts.
"Det. Popow's flagrant disregard for CPD policies, as well as the nature of the posts and the frequency with which he posted them, all suggest he was expressing his true views," the COPA report states. "Det. Popow's posts disparage the same protected classes he took an oath to protect and serve, including African Americans, migrants, Muslims, the LGBTQ+ community and people who are disabled. Through his use of social media, Det. Popow has demonstrated that he is unable to treat all Chicago citizens with fairness and equity."
The Chicago Police Department said Popow is on administrative duties pending the investigation.
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