Springfield Officer On Fatal Charlottesville Crash: 'Hahahaha Love This'
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (CBS/AP) — A Massachusetts police department is investigating a Facebook comment by an officer who wrote "Hahahaha love this" in response to a story about a car crashing into counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing one person and injuring at least 19 others.
Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri says he received a complaint about the comment and opened an internal investigation.
"I am disgusted and horrified by what occurred in Virginia," Barbieri said in a statement. "If in fact this post did originate from an officer employed with the Springfield Police Department, this matter will be reviewed by the Community Police Hearings Board for further action."
Officer Conrad Lariviere wrote in response to the violence: "Hahahaha love this, maybe people shouldn't block road ways."
In a Facebook interview with Masslive.com, Lariviere says he's a "good man who made a stupid comment."
Democratic Mayor Domenic Sarno says: "There is no place for this in our society, let alone from a Springfield Police Officer."
Keller @ Large: Look At The People Involved In Charlottesville
An Ohio man is charged with second-degree murder and other counts over the crash.
Lariviere also questioned whether the driver of the car that struck the crowd was a "nazi scumbag."
He responded to a critic who asked whether he had ever been struck by a car, saying he had been struck by someone "with warrants, but who cares right you ignorant brat live in a fantasy land with the rest of America while I deal with the real danger."
Lariviere told Masslive.com he is not a racist.
"Never would I want someone to get murdered. I am not a racist and don't believe in what any of those protesters are doing," he said.
Lariviere was a member of the Springfield Police Academy's 2014 graduating class. A message left by The Associated Press at a listed number for a Conrad Lariviere in Springfield was not immediately returned.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
