NYPD Official Accused Of Racist Posts Retires: Report

New York City NY

12 January, 2021

10:02 AM

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NEW YORK CITY — An NYPD official accused of posting hundreds of derogatory and racist posts to a notorious police message board has retired, according to reports. Deputy Inspector James F. Kobel's retirement was first reportedby the New York Post, which also revealed a day before that Kobel had been suspended without pay ahead of expected disciplinary charges. Kobel, the commanding officer of a workplace harassment unit, came under scrutiny after a City Council probe tied him to a particularly-vitriolic poster known as "Clouseau" on the message board known as the "Rant," where some NYPD officers infamously use racist and misogynistic language. "Clouseau," among other targets, wrote posts that attacked Black people, Puerto Ricans, Hasidic Jews, Mayor Bill de Blasio's family and Rep. Ilhan Omar in crude, derogatory and racist language. Former Councilman Ritchie Torres, now a congressman, in November released a report making the case that "Clouseau" and Kobel were one and the same. Kobel has denied the accusation, but the NYPD ultimately concluded he wrote the posts. Torres on Tuesday tweeted that Kobel should have been fired back in November. He said Kobel is "the tip of the iceberg." "There are untold numbers officers lurking on these online message boards, trafficking in the vilest forms of bigotry," he wrote. "The siege on the Capitol demonstrates that we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to online hate that can easily harden into real-life extremism," he went on to write. The siege on the Capitol demonstrates that we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to online hate that can easily harden into real-life extremism.— Rep. Ritchie Torres (@RepRitchie) January 12, 2021