The head of the New York Police Department's anti-harassment office has been alleged to post racist remarks to an online message board used by police officers.
Hundreds of Racist Remarks
Deputy Inspector James Kobel, who supervised the NYPD's Equal Employment Opportunity Division, has been "relieved of his command" and was placed on "modified assignment" amid a department investigation.
For over 20 years, an internet chat board named "The Rant" has been the outlet wherein New York City cops have gone in secret to complain about their work. Its purpose does not include occasional blatantly racist and misogynistic language.
Even by the site's virulent requirements, scores of current posts by a user named "Clouseau" have been disturbing.
Kobel is alleged of writing posts that denounced Puerto Ricans, Black people, Mayor Bill de Blasio's family, Hasidic Jews, and Rep. Ilhan Omar among others. He denied the allegations.
He was accused by the City Council's Oversight and Investigations Division in a 13-page draft report.
Kobel is a 30-year veteran of the department, reported Silive.
The deputy inspector called the Bronx's Black district attorney, Darcel D. Clark "a gap-toothed wildebeest" and labeled former President Barack Obama as a "Muslim savage," among many other racist attacks.
Police investigators associated Kobel with the user Clouseau after finding a copy of the user's display photo on his phone, reported The Daily Beast.
The 50-year-old's pseudonym Clouseau' is reportedly a reference to the blundering French detective in the "Pink Panther" movies.
Investigators also have distinguished Kobel as the possible author due to the personal information indicated in his posts.
From July 2019 to September 2020, Clouseau would routinely post disrespectful messages on "Law Enforcement Rant."
According to the report, Kobel would allegedly use smears to describe two NYPD women of color officers. He also insulted Eric Garner, who passed away in 2014 after an NYPD officer put him in a stranglehold alongside his mother.
Investigation of the situation is underway.
City Council Speaker Johnson wrote his response on Twitter, "This is outrageous and inappropriate behavior by an NYPD official, and will not be tolerated. The Council will hold a hearing on this matter."
The NYPD initiated a probing after a New York City Council investigation led by Bronx Councilman Ritchie Torres discovered a trove of evidence associating Kobel with hundreds of messages on the chat board.
User Clouseau also described Mayor Bill de Blasio's son Dante as a "brillohead" and called Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar a "filthy animal."
Kobel is not simply a high-ranking official, but his designation is in a workplace responsible for combating office harassment within the Police Department.
The City Council's Oversight and Investigations Division's supervisor is Councilman Ritchie Torres. It posed the inquiry against Kobel.
The malignant posts have been taken down due to the Council's beginning of inquiry, and the profile was removed.
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