An NYPD police officer has been suspended and is currently under investigation after videos of him yelling "Trump 2020" over the loudspeaker of a patrol vehicle started circulating on social media.
Cellphone-recorded footage taken from an apartment overlooking the street in Flatbush, Brooklyn were posted on Twitter on Saturday night and showed the officer voicing his support for President Donald Trump.
'Put it on YouTube, Put it on Facebook'
The user who shot the video said he started filming when he heard the police officer and an individual near the crosswalk Crooke Avenue and St. Paul Place get into a confrontation around 10 p.m. on Saturday.
"Trump 2020! Take a picture, take a video. Put it on Facebook, put it on YouTube, have some fun!" the officer can be heard saying to the man over the NYPD SUV's bullhorn as the individual continues to film the officer.
Another video, which appears to have been taken by the individual involved in the confrontation with the officers, shows the man asking the officers to "Do it again."
"What? You can't say Trump 2020 now? Say it again" he asks the officer, who once again expresses his support for the President "Go f*ck yourself, you f*cking fascist," the man retorts.
NYPD Officer Suspended Without Pay
The NYPD's patrol guide bans on-duty or in-uniform officers from "endorsing political candidates or publicly expressing personal views and opinions."
The officer involved has now been suspended without pay "using a department vehicle's loud speaker for political purposes," the NYPD said on Sunday afternoon. His identity is not yet known. Commissioner Dermot Shea also tweeted saying that the officer's behavior was "one hundred percent unacceptable. Period."
He added that officers must remain apolitical. Mayor Bill de Blasio also promised swift action, writing in a tweet that an officer "pushing ANY political agenda while on duty will face consequences."
