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St. Louis Area Cop Thinks Protesters Should Be ‘Put Down Like Rabid Dogs’

Seth Richardson Contributor
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A police officer just 15 miles away from the ongoing protests in Ferguson, Mo. allegedly said he thinks the protesters should have been “put down like rabid dogs.”

Officer Matthew Pappert is a police officer with the Glendale Police Department. He has been an officer since 2008. Pappert received the 2009 City of Glendale Community Service Award and the 2013 Kirkwood American Legion Post and Kirkwood Optimist Club Public Safety Award.

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He also apparently holds contempt against the protesters in Ferguson, according to screenshots obtained by The Daily Caller.

In a series of Facebook posts beginning Aug. 17, Pappert allegedly wrote, “I’m sick of these protesters. You are a burden on society and a blight on the community.”

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“These protesters should have been put down like a rabid dog the first night,” he said in a later comment on the same post.

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When told the Ku Klux Klan would be in Ferguson, he said there would be thugs and white trash in the same location, as well as pondered, “Where is a Muslim with a backpack when you need him?”

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His contempt extended to Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson’s interaction with the community, after a picture of Johnson making a hand gesture with a protester surfaced.

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The sign was later found to be that of Kappa Alpha Psi, a black fraternity.

More posts allegedly belonging to Pappert show he is an ardent supporter of Officer Darren Wilson, the policeman who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown sparking the protests in Ferguson.

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According to the City of Glendale 2013 Annual Report, Pappert is a firearms instructor and part of the Crisis Intervention Team. And his comments did not happen in a vacuum. Glendale has 11 officers and eight civilian employees. Pappert is friends with at least one police officer and five of the civilian employees.

Glendale Police Chief Jeff Beaton said the Facebook page seems by all accounts to be Pappert.

“I’m shocked to be quite honest,” he told TheDC. “I wouldn’t expect any of my officers to make any kind of posts related directly to this incident since it doesn’t involve our agency. Again those are personal posts and they absolutely do not reflect the City of Glendale.”

Beaton also said that if events like Ferguson were to happen in Glendale, Pappert would likely be a responder.

Pappert did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

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