A white police officer in Ohio has been fired after he posted a comment on Facebook calling the suicide of a Black Lives Matter activist “a happy ending.”
After an internal affairs investigation, Fairborn Police Chief Terry Barlow issued a statement Monday saying that Officer Lee Cyr was fired for the post because it violated “the department’s social media policy and does not conform to the Professional Standards & Core Values established by the organization.”
The post has since been removed, but several media organizations published what appeared to be a screen grab of it. In the comments section underneath a news item reporting the suicide of MarShawn McCarrel on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on February 8, a post from Facebook user Lee Cyr remarked: “Love a happy ending.”
Sgt. Mark Stannard of the Fairborn Police Department confirmed the wording of the post from Cyr’s Facebook account to CNN in an email. Fairborn, a suburb of Dayton, is about 60 miles west of Columbus.
Cyr has not responded to multiple attempts by CNN to reach him. CNN affiliate WDTN reported that Cyr had worked for the Fairborn police department since 1994 and had been disciplined in the past for his comments on social media.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, it wasn’t clear why McCarrel, 23, shot himself, but hours earlier he had posted a message on Facebook saying, “My demons won today. I’m sorry.”
A tribute to McCarrel on the Black Lives Matter website called him “a soldier for the liberation of all people,” and said he helped build the Ohio Student Association and assisted in the launching of Freedomside, a youth-led racial justice organization.