A Cleveland police officer is facing criticism from a local Islamic civil rights group over his “racist, anti-Muslim, anti-Obama, and pro-Confederate flag” Twitter posts, according to Clevaland.com.
After Frank Woyma was recently promoted to Sergeant from Patrol Officer, his tweets have come under fire from the Cleveland Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). According to CAIR, Sgt. Woyma re-tweeted images of a Quran being flushed down a toilet and of President Obama’s campaign logo with the headline ‘This is a symbol of racism, I would like it removed from my country.’ One re-tweet, with an image of a Crusader knight, is headlined: ‘I will turn back the Muslim hordes,’ with the note ‘Join our fight to save America.’
CAIR is arguing that Woyma’s posts violate the Cleveland police department’s social media policy.
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“While Sergeant Woyma is re-tweeting racist and anti-Muslim materials on a private account, his clearly bigoted views can only serve to cast a negative light on the Cleveland Division of Police and harm relations with the community he is supposed to serve and protect,” said CAIR-Cleveland Executive Director Julia Shearson in a statement posted on CAIR’s website.
The Cleveland Police Department’s policy prohibits social media posts that have the “potential to negatively impact the law enforcement function of the Cleveland Division of Police…whether the conduct or communications occur on-duty or off-duty.”
This is not the first time that Sgt. Woyma has found himself facing criticism for an off-duty incident. In 2006, Woyma was accused of smashing a glass bottle into a man’s head. The city agreed to Woyma’s accuser $25,000, and the case was dismissed before going to civil trial.
