Activists in Antioch, Calif., are heated after the president of the city’s police union wrote on Facebook that slapping a protester who flipped off a cop would be “100 percent justified.”
Cpl. Steve Aiello commented on a meme, posted by another user and shared to Antioch’s Crime Prevention Commission, which showed a woman giving the finger to an officer during a protest. The photo caption read: “Maybe it’s the people, not the cops, that need ‘better training.’”
“I firmly believe an open hand slap in the face is 100 percent justified in this incident,” Aiello wrote in the since-deleted comment, The Mercury News of San Jose reported. “When a police officer is standing there doing nothing and a person is antagonizing them, why is that OK?” he added.
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A number of residents in the city have reportedly planned a protest for 3 p.m. Wednesday at Antioch City Park, where they will demand the officer’s resignation, according to a news release by the organizers that accused Aiello of “advocating violence against peaceful protesters.”
Aiello wrote in an email Monday that he “would never promote violence on anyone” and that he supports “‘peaceful’ protests,” adding that his comments were taken out of context.
