Victoria Police has launched an investigation into a cop’s use of social media following complaints he “boasted” about his son’s attendance at a neo-Nazi rally in Melbourne.
Victoria Police has launched a formal investigation into social media posts by an officer “boasting” about his son’s attendance at a neo-Nazi rally at Parliament House.
Police also came under fire for failing to stop the neo-Nazi protesters from marching and saluting on Spring St when they gatecrashed a Let Women Speak rally in March.
Leading criminal barrister Remy van de Wiel, KC, subsequently wrote to chief commissioner Shane Patton on behalf of a client, putting him on notice of legal action over the vile ‘heil Hitler’ salutes.
He claimed police’s failure to halt the hate act amounted to a breach of a legal agreement signed off by former police chief Christine Nixon in 2008.
He subsequently raised concerns in a follow up letter that one of the neo-Nazis was the son of a Victoria Police officer who boasted he was proud of his son in a social media post.
Mr van de Wiel’s client also claimed that raw footage of the protest laid bare the “painful reality that Victoria Police officers were not mere spectators; rather encouraged, authorised and/or assisted the neo-Nazis.”
Victoria Police have confirmed they have initiated a formal investigation into inappropriate use of social media, but ruled out a probe into the conduct of officers for failing to stop the rally.
Read the article by Shannon Deery in the Herald Sun.