Bay Area police union chief says it’s ‘100% justified’ for cops to SLAP protesters in the face if they flip the bird at them
- Cpl. Steve Aiello posted beneath a meme which showed a protester flipping the bird at a cop
- He wrote: ‘I firmly believe an open hand slap in the face is 100 percent justified in this incident’
- Outraged residents of Antioch, California, are now planning a protest over his comments
- He said that they were ‘taken out of context’ and that the protesters have ‘created their own narrative;’
Cpl. Steve Aiello made the post on Facebook
A Bay Area police union chief has posted on Facebook that it was ‘100 percent justified’ for cops to slap protesters if they flip the bird at them.
Cpl. Steve Aiello has since the deleted his comment beneath a meme which showed a protester sticking her middle finger up at a police officer and the words: ‘Maybe it’s the people, not the cops, that need “better training.”‘
Aiello wrote beneath it: ‘I firmly believe an open hand slap in the face is 100 percent justified in this incident.
‘When a police officer is standing there doing nothing and a person is antagonizing them, why is that OK?’
Both Aiello’s comment on the meme and the meme itself were later deleted.
He told The Mercury News that his remarks had been ‘taken out of context’ and that he supports peaceful protests.
‘The comment was taken out of context. The activists are simply creating their own narrative.
‘In fact not peaceful and were antagonist in nature. That’s how I interpreted the original post,’ he said.
Outraged residents in Antioch demanded that he resign. They have arranged a protest over his remarks.
Flipping the bird to cops is protected under the First Amendment.