George Floyd protests: NYC corrections officer suspended after posting photo of himself as Derek Chauvin
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A New York City corrections officer who shared on Facebook a photographic parody of George Floyd's final moments has been suspended.
The doctored image shows corrections officer Derrick Lascko's face over that of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin as he digs his knee into Floyd's neck. Floyd's face was covered up with that of current Correction Officers' Benevolent Association Union President Elias Husamudeen.
In a video posted to his Facebook page, Lascko described himself as an "adversary" of Husamudeen and COBA's executive board.
Many of his posts on the social network advocate for voting Husamudeen and the executive board out of their positions in an upcoming election.
He said he has created and posted many satirical memes of them, but he denies having made the image in question.
Lascko claimed it was made by another Facebook user who is connected to Husamudeen, whose profile is now deleted.
Husamudeen responded to the photo.
"I'm not surprised that instead of just apologizing he's chosen to pretend he didn't do it," Husamudeen said.
Lascko has been suspended without pay, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision announced Saturday.
"This is absolutely unacceptable and does not represent the values of our uniform staff and department as a whole," DOC Commissioner Cynthia Brann said. "An investigation is underway and the officer has been suspended without pay. Compassion, dedication to duty and the desire to ensure public safety are at the center of what it means to be a correction officer and this kind of behavior will not be tolerated under any circumstances."
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