A Little Rock police recruit's lawyer has sent a letter to the Police Department saying it would be unfair to fire the recruit over a contentious Facebook post made years ago.
The letter comes after the department opened an internal investigation into a Facebook post by police recruit Brandon Schiefelbein, who is white. The June 2013 post included a racial slur offensive to black people and displayed a picture of a black man who appears to be sleeping on a bed.
The recruit's attorney, Robert Newcomb, wrote in the letter that the people photographed or mentioned in the post served with Schiefelbein in the military and indicated to the department that "they are not concerned at all about him."
"They clearly felt that this proposed action is an overreaction by the Police Department," he wrote.
Newcomb, in an interview Friday, described the post as a joke among friends and said it occurred when Schiefelbein was a teenager -- years before he became a police recruit.
In the letter, Newcomb said Brandon Gurley, a black police recruit who raised concerns about Schiefelbein's post, appears to also have used the same racial slur in past posts on Facebook.
"Both of these were done when both individuals were younger. If it is conduct unbecoming for one, it would be conduct unbecoming for the other. The Department should do a complete review of Mr. Brandon Gurley's post which were public," Newcomb wrote.
Last month, the Little Rock Black Police Officers Association raised concerns about Schiefelbein in a letter to Chief Kenton Buckner. The association described the post as "very careless, distasteful and demeaning."
"We will not sit silently and allow or wait for the City of Little Rock to unfold a welcome mat for this recruit. We will not tolerate it!" according to the association's letter. "His words have made it clear regarding his thoughts about African Americans. We will not allow him to act on how he feels about us."
Buckner said that after he was notified about the Facebook post, he immediately ordered an internal investigation.
The police association letter also raised concerns about a separate incident regarding a picture posted at the department's 12th Street substation. The image shows a stick figure pointing a gun at another figure, who has his knees on the ground and his hands around his back, apparently handcuffed. The association demanded an internal investigation and described the image's posting as "inappropriate."
Lt. Michael Ford, a police spokesman, said the separate internal investigations into the picture and Schiefelbein's Facebook post are still ongoing.
A Police Department statement sent Nov. 24 said authorities expected both internal investigations to be completed sometime early this week. Ford declined to comment Friday on the why the investigations were continuing.
The contentious post on Schiefelbein's account includes words "Go night night n+++a. Go night night" with a picture of a black man apparently sleeping on a bed. Newcomb said the words were in reference to a quote from comedian Kevin Hart, who is black.
The letter from Newcomb to the department included images of past posts from Gurley's Facebook account.
Part of a post from April 2010 read, in all capital letters: "Both of yall you know who you are bet both yall got the n+++a them n++++s name tatted on yall dumb."
On Gurley's account, another post from October 2010 read: "suwoo if u mf bangin n+++a bust yo gun n+++a," according to the images attached to the letter.
Newcomb wrote that the department should either keep both recruits employed or fire both as a way of being fair.
The attachments to the letter also included images from a Facebook conversation between the recruits, in which Gurley brings up Schiefelbein's post.
"That's one of my good friends from my unit and he was there when I posted it," Schiefelbein wrote when asked about his post.
"He was ok with that? That word?" Gurley responded.
"Yea he was the one that said the quote. But I'll take it down. As you can see I don't post things on Facebook. Haven't [in] a long time. I just repost things," Schiefelbein said.
Later that day, Schiefelbein responded again and apologized if it had caused offense, explaining that it was a quote from Hart.
Gurley said he was offended by the post and wrote that he "didn't take [Schiefelbein] as a person [who] would use that word."
Schiefelbein apologized and said he had taken the post down.
"You know that is not how I am. I have and will always have your back no matter what. I have been there for you and will always help you or anyone in need," he wrote to Gurley.
Gurley accepted the apology, but also said "Let's lean back off the kool aid water fountains fried chicken and Shrek Kid jokes."
Metro on 12/02/2017