New Jersey authorities have moved to fire a white corrections officer who was caught on camera mocking the death of George Floyd in a protest.
On Tuesday, the state Department of Corrections tweeted that deportation charges were brought against the officer seen among a group of white men protesting against a demonstration against police brutality and systemic racism in Franklin Township in South Jersey.
The officer was one of two white men posing with one kneeling on the other’s neck, an apparent recreation of the deadly arrest of Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.
“The Officer was placed in nonpayment status pending a due process hearing as part of the regular procedure for unionized government employees,” the Department of Corrections tweet said.
The union representing corrections officers identified the man as Joseph DeMarco and said he had suspended him from the union.
“PBA 105 has filed union charges against Mr. DeMarco and is suspended from our organization,” union president William Sullivan told NBC News in an email on Friday. “We do not support any member of this association who does anything outside the scope of our duties as correctional police officers.”
Sullivan said DeMarco works at Bayside State Prison in Leesburg.
A Department of Corrections spokesman, John Cokos, said in a statement Friday in response to a query about the officer’s identity and work history that “he was not releasing the individual’s name at this time.”
The statement says the person involved in the video is a high-ranking correctional officer who was hired on March 25, 2002 and who has worked at both the Albert C. Wagner Juvenile Correctional Center and Bayside State Prison.
The incident occurred on June 8 when a few dozen people gathered in Franklin Township, a city of approximately 16,400, for the demonstration sparked by Floyd’s death.
A viral video shows that the group encountered several white men, who had gathered near a sign saying “All Lives Matter” and in front of a truck with an American flag and a sign in favor of Trump.
One of the white men yelled angrily at the protesters as he knelt over the neck of another who was face down on the ground.
The following afternoon, the New Jersey Department of Corrections said it had been informed that one of its officers “participated in the filming of a hateful and disappointing video that mocked the murder” of Floyd and said that the individual was suspended.
Hours later, FedEx confirmed that one of its employees had also participated in the counter-protest and had been fired as a result.
Chauvin and three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest were fired. Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder, second-degree murder, and involuntary manslaughter.
