Lt. Victor Gearhart, first vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 in Baltimore, was suspended for calling #BLM Black Lives Matter members THUGS
A high-ranking official in the Baltimore police union with a history of making controversial statements — and getting disciplined for it — has once again landed in hot water, after suggesting protesters of a Maryland Fraternal Order of Police conference at the Inner Harbor on Sunday were "thugs" involved in violence.
Lt. Victor Gearhart, first vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 in Baltimore, was suspended by Police Commissioner Kevin Davis on Monday morning after writing the comments in an email that he sent to the entire police department using his official department email account, according to sources familiar with the incident who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.
In the email, Gearhart said union members attending the state FOP conference should "expect more bad behavior from the THUGS OF BALTIMORE," referring to the protesters — a dozen of whom were arrested for trespassing at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore on Sunday.
"On the bright side maybe they will stop killing each other while they are protesting us," Gearhart wrote.
The Baltimore Police union leader suspended this week for calling Black Lives Matter activists “thugs” in a department-wide email faces possible dismissal. But almost nobody cares that this kind of retaliation is possibly unconstitutional.
“I haven’t thought about it,” said Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery, an obscure affirmative action hire until he rocketed to fame by claiming St. Louis cops violated his rights for arresting him while covering the Ferguson riots.
Of course, whether public employees are entitled to legal protection for offensive speech is very complex and depends on a multitude of particular factors. But the city could face an uphill battle if they try to fire Lt. Victor Gearhart, a veteran civil rights lawyer tells the Washington Gadfly.
“Yes, it’s complicated,” the source explained, “I suppose that’s why there’s now an internal investigation rather than a summary discharge. Stay tuned.”
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