A Chicago police supervisor stepped down from his position last month during an investigation into racist and more offensive comments on his Facebook page, according to Chicago Sun-Times.
Police Lt. John Cannon, who was the watch commander of the Near North Police District, resigned on October 15 after the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) found he violated the department’s policies and recommended his termination.
“Lt. Cannon’s posts disparage the same protected classes he took an oath to protect and serve, including Muslims, African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, the LGBTQ community, and women,” the agency’s report states. “Through his use of social media, Lt. Cannon has demonstrated that he is unable to treat all the citizens of Chicago with fairness and equity.”
One of Cannon’s posts included a photo of former President Barack Obama in a hijab and stated “Obama is Isis.” A July 2018 post features Cannon responding to bodycam footage of the fatal police shooting of Hairth Augustus, a South Shore barber whose death sparked massive outrage and protests.
“Brave young warriors face to face with an urban terrorist and the better trained professional Police Officer won the day,” he wrote, per the report. “Excellent work by all the new batch of warriors. Love it.”
COPA found 16 of the 19 allegations levied against Cannon sustained. Max Caproni, executive director of the Chicago Police Board, told reporters Cannon’s allegations were never referred to them for disciplinary action.
The former police lieutenant claims his Facebook account was hacked to make him look bad. He later admitted to investigators he didn’t notice anyone else using the account and mostly conceded to making the incendiary posts. COPA noted that Cannon “did not provide any evidence that someone had improperly accessed his account.”
Chicago Sun-Times reached out to Dan Herbert, Cannon’s attorney, to answer questions, but he did not respond.
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