Colorado officer who reportedly posted 'Let's start a riot

DENVER (KKTV) - Following an internal affairs investigation, a Denver police officer who reportedly posted a picture with the caption "Let's start a riot," was fired.

The photo accompanying the caption Showed three officers in riot gear during the protests in Denver tied to the death of George Floyd. The picture was seen on social media this past Sunday.



Denver Police posted the following to Twitter on Tuesday:

"The Denver Police Department initiated an Internal Affairs investigation into a social media post by Officer Thomas McClay. The Internal Affairs Investigation revealed that the officer violated the Department's social media policy, posted content inconsistent with the values of the Department, and the officer has been terminated."

Part of the Department's social media policy on employee personal use reads as follows:

"Public employees occupy a trusted position in the community, and thus, their statements have the potential to contravene the policies and performance of this department. Due to the nature of the work and influence associated with the law enforcement profession, it is necessary that employees of this department be subject to certain reasonable limitations on their speech and expression. To achieve its mission and efficiently provide service to the public, the Denver Police Department will carefully balance the individual employee's rights against the department's needs and interests when exercising a reasonable degree of control over its employees' speech and expression"