9 officers fired over online remarks

NORFOLK, Va. — A historically black university in Virginia said Friday that it has fired nine of its police officers for sharing “misogynistic, racist and other offensive remarks via social media.”

Hampton University’s statement did not detail the remarks the officers made. But it said they were fired for “egregious violations of the university’s code of conduct.” The school employs 25 officers, according to the department’s website.

Hampton University Police Chief David Glover did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

WAVY TV reported that it had obtained a copy of a termination letter that one of the officers received. In it, Deputy Chief Ronald Davis said some officers and supervisors were engaged in a socalled “Meme War.”

“The ‘Meme Wars’ is described as a jovial release of photographs and captions designed to levy insults at others in the group as well as persons outside the group,” Davis wrote.

The police force for the campus is the latest to become ensnared in controversy over officers’ social media posts. Last week, the Philadelphia Police Department said it was suspending 13 officers with intent to fire them following a probe into offensive and sometimes threatening Facebook posts. A few days before that, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said 62 current and eight former Border Patrol employees were under investigation following revelations of a secret Facebook group that mocked lawmakers and migrants. In June, St. Louis pulled several police officers off the streets after they were accused of posting racist and antiMuslim comments.