A Missouri police officer who made hateful remarks on African-Americans, Muslims, women and President Barack Obama was put off from his duty.
St Louis County officer Dan Page in his interview to CNN bragged, "Policemen are very cynical. I know I am. I hate everybody. I'm into diversity. I kill everybody." In the video, Page also appears to push CNN's Don Lemon during a live report on the Ferguson protests.
County Police Chief Jon Belmar put Page on administrative leave after watching the video. Belmar told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he would have fired Page if a review were not required in the first place. The review is expected to start Monday and Page will be told to get a psychological evaluation, according to USA Today.
The video also shows Page calling Obama an "illegal alien". He then presents a photo of himself taken in Kenya and says he went to "our undocumented President's home. He was born in Kenya".
According to Lemon, he sent the link to Page's speech to Chief Belmar Friday. "As police chief, it's embarrassing when you find out about stuff like this," Belmar told Lemon, noting that the video has been on YouTube since April. As he does not use social media, he said these things can be "difficult to unearth at times."
Belmar also clarified that the comments made by Page does not reflect his department's code of conduct. "Not at all. They are not indicative of the St. Louis County police department, they're not indicative of the officers that he works beside, and frankly, he's let them down."
Belmar also apologised to those who were offended by the comments made by Page.
