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New Orleans police officer Jason Giroir suspended for online comments about Trayvon Martin shooting

Outrage grows over Trayvon Martin shooting
17-year-old Trayvon Martin Personal Photo

(CBS/AP) NEW ORLEANS - A New Orleans police officer who was placed on desk duty while under investigation has now been suspended for posting a comment on a local television station's website about the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. 

Photos: Trayvon Martin

Officer Jason Giroir, a member of the New Orleans Police Department for 13 years, was already under investigation for a March 1 shooting that left one man dead and two officers injured after he made a traffic stop. Giroir made online comments that caused Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas to suspend him without pay.

Giroir identified himself as a New Orleans Police Department employee when he wrote, "Act like a thug die like one!" in response to a WWL-TV article about a rally supporting Martin.

Serpas announced Monday that Giroir has been suspended indefinitely without pay. "To say that I'm angry is an understatement," Serpas said. "I'm furious."

According to the CBS affiliate, Mayor Mitch Landrieu issued a statement "wholeheartedly" supporting Serpas' action against Giroir, and adding, "The people of New Orleans and my administration will not tolerate this reckless and offensive behavior. I condemn his statements in the strongest of terms."

The NOPD's policy on the internet says no employee should post anything that is illegal, or anything that embarrasses, humiliates, discredits, or harms the operation and reputation of the police department.

Complete coverage of the Trayvon Martin case on Crimesider

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