The Minneapolis Police Department fired an officer in February for liking a comment on social media supporting the lynching of a Black man, according to Internal Affairs documents.
The comment in question was made in March 2024 in a Facebook group called Minneapolis Police Officers and Civilian Employees, Current and Retired, which has no official affiliation with the department, police said.
In response to a news article about a suspect accused of killing a police officer, someone commented, "Get a [r]ope and find a tree," and Klimmek liked the comment from his personal account, the MPD investigation found. The suspect appeared to be Black.
Klimmek admitted to liking the comment in an investigative interview, but said he did not know the phrase carried any racial connotations. He said he liked it because, "I was probably supportive of that post, uh, the death penalty for someone who murdered a police officer," MPD documents show.
WCCO has reached out to the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis for comment.
"Officer Klimmek's claim of not knowing that the phrase, 'Get a rope and find a tree' is affiliated with an unquestionably violent history of racism and slavery, and his claimed lack of knowledge demonstrates how out of touch he is with history," then-Chief Brian O'Hara wrote in his findings. "The public cannot trust his judgment, and I cannot trust his judgment."
In his investigative interview, Klimmek "did not express any remorse for his actions," the department said, and he "just does not understand or appreciate his role in upholding the public trust or the betrayal of that trust inherent in the comment that he liked."
O'Hara said Klimmek's conduct "has had a serious negative impact on the professionalism of the MPD and has demonstrated a serious lack of integrity, ethics and character related to his fitness to hold his position."
The department terminated Klimmek on Feb. 20 for violating its social media conduct policies. He received one-on-one social media policy training in 2015, the investigation noted.
Minneapolis Police Department records show three previous disciplinary measures for Klimmek, all suspensions. In 2020, he stood by while a security officer punched a handcuffed suspect in the stomach. In 2021, he ran a red light and caused a crash. And in 2024, he failed to properly search a suspect and allowed him to bring a loaded handgun into the Hennepin County Jail.
The department's online dashboard shows at least 20 complaints against Klimmek since 2012, four of which are still open.
O'Hara noted in his decision that Klimmek's actions came after the murder of George Floyd and investigations by both the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and U.S. Department of Justice that found a pattern of racial discrimination by the department.
O'Hara himself resigned in May after an internal investigation found he interfered with a probe into his own actions.
Minneapolis police officer was fired in February for liking pro-lynching comment, department document shows
/ CBS Minnesota
The Minneapolis Police Department fired an officer in February for liking a comment on social media supporting the lynching of a Black man, according to Internal Affairs documents.
The comment in question was made in March 2024 in a Facebook group called Minneapolis Police Officers and Civilian Employees, Current and Retired, which has no official affiliation with the department, police said.
In response to a news article about a suspect accused of killing a police officer, someone commented, "Get a [r]ope and find a tree," and Klimmek liked the comment from his personal account, the MPD investigation found. The suspect appeared to be Black.
Klimmek admitted to liking the comment in an investigative interview, but said he did not know the phrase carried any racial connotations. He said he liked it because, "I was probably supportive of that post, uh, the death penalty for someone who murdered a police officer," MPD documents show.
WCCO has reached out to the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis for comment.
"Officer Klimmek's claim of not knowing that the phrase, 'Get a rope and find a tree' is affiliated with an unquestionably violent history of racism and slavery, and his claimed lack of knowledge demonstrates how out of touch he is with history," then-Chief Brian O'Hara wrote in his findings. "The public cannot trust his judgment, and I cannot trust his judgment."
In his investigative interview, Klimmek "did not express any remorse for his actions," the department said, and he "just does not understand or appreciate his role in upholding the public trust or the betrayal of that trust inherent in the comment that he liked."
O'Hara said Klimmek's conduct "has had a serious negative impact on the professionalism of the MPD and has demonstrated a serious lack of integrity, ethics and character related to his fitness to hold his position."
The department terminated Klimmek on Feb. 20 for violating its social media conduct policies. He received one-on-one social media policy training in 2015, the investigation noted.
Minneapolis Police Department records show three previous disciplinary measures for Klimmek, all suspensions. In 2020, he stood by while a security officer punched a handcuffed suspect in the stomach. In 2021, he ran a red light and caused a crash. And in 2024, he failed to properly search a suspect and allowed him to bring a loaded handgun into the Hennepin County Jail.
The department's online dashboard shows at least 20 complaints against Klimmek since 2012, four of which are still open.
O'Hara noted in his decision that Klimmek's actions came after the murder of George Floyd and investigations by both the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and U.S. Department of Justice that found a pattern of racial discrimination by the department.
O'Hara himself resigned in May after an internal investigation found he interfered with a probe into his own actions.
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