A Springfield, Massachusetts detective who shared a picture of her niece at a Black Lives Matter protest on social media has been fired.
Rookie Detective Florissa Fuentes tells The Republican newspaper that the post was shared on her personal Instagram account on May 30, while she was off duty. The photo shows her niece by two signs — one reading "Who do we call when the murderers wear the badge?" and another suggesting people shoot back at police. While Fuentes maintains she was simply showing pride in her niece’s activism, and does not advocate violence against police, the post generated a good deal of criticism from her fellow officers. Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood fired Fuentes on June 19, calling the post 'hurtful.'
According to The Republican, Fuentes apologized for the post in a private group page on Facebook, and initially thought the incident behind her after meeting with Springfield Police Department supervisors, including Clapprood. She was fired amid reports that Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno was upset by the post.