Police officer’s appreciation of murder on Facebook isn’t well received

Will Lerner
·Producer, Yahoo Entertainment

Joseph Ming Klimmek is a 5-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department in Minnesota whose words on Facebook are becoming a cause of concern for someresidents. As KMSP FOX 9 News reports, Officer Klimmek has posted questionable comments under his online alias, Joseph Klimax.

It all started with a story that was actually done by KMSP, about a shooting in south Minneapolis that left a 23-year-old man dead. Klimmek linked to the story with his Facebook account, adding the comment, “3 murders in 3 days and it's not even warm yet? This could be a busy year finally.” He also wrote, “The last few years were slow."

It was something that alarmed Alicia Lucio, who said she’s actually known Klimmek for years. She told the station, "The last few years have not been 'slow.’ I have, unfortunately, attended many funerals myself. To see them feel as though they need more to do when there's plenty of things they could be doing is really disconcerting." Another mother, who wished to remain anonymous told the station, “It's not the kind of field where you would hope for a busy time.”

Lucio, who is of Mexican descent, also claims that Klimmek demonstrated a “white supremacist kind of mentality,” when he posted a picture of an American flag T-shirt captioned as a "new Cinco de Mayo shirt." She feels it was a direct shot at her ancestry.

KMSP spoke with Neil Melton, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training, an organization, “responsible for licensing over 10,500 active peace officers and over 250 active part-time peace officers. “ Mr. Melton told the station that the posts don’t violate licensing standards, but, “If you're perceived as a representative of the city, you'd think you'd hold yourself to a higher standard.” He’s urging the Minneapolis Police Department to implement and enforce social media guidelines. Meanwhile, the MPD says that they’re investigating the matter and that at least one post is, “not in line with MPD’s core values.”

More info: KMSP