Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — Authorities say a St. Louis city police officer will likely get some days off as discipline for wearing a tag on his sleeve bearing the name of the former Ferguson officer who shot and killed Michael Brown.
The officer wore the tag with Darren Wilson’s last name on it while stationed at City Hall when protesters showed up Friday. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he’s disappointed.
St. Louis Police Officers’ Association business manager Jeff Roorda said it’s wrong the officer is “being told that his passive statement is constitutionally prohibited free speech.”
Dotson says officers have the same First Amendment rights as others when off duty. But he says the officer “clearly violated” rules allowing only department-approved pins, insignia and awards on uniforms.
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