{"id":153029,"date":"2021-02-20T12:58:47","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T17:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=153029"},"modified":"2021-02-20T13:13:36","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T18:13:36","slug":"kentucky-police-officer-fired-for-giving-black-lives-matter-protest-leader-info-on-cops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kentucky-police-officer-fired-for-giving-black-lives-matter-protest-leader-info-on-cops\/","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky Police Officer Fired For Giving Black Lives Matter Protest Leader Info On Cops"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fkentucky-police-officer-fired-for-giving-black-lives-matter-protest-leader-info-on-cops%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=153029&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/BLM-ky.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>A police officer in Lexington, Kentucky, was fired early Friday morning after being accused of providing information about other cops to a Black Lives Matter protest organizer.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kentucky.com\/news\/local\/counties\/fayette-county\/article249324830.html\">According<\/a> to the Herald-Leader, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council announced that officer Jervis Middleton had been released \u201cshortly after 1 a.m. Friday after a nine-hour police hearing and more than two hours of closed-door deliberations.\u201d The outlet reported that the police chief and internal police disciplinary board recommended Middleton be terminated \u201cfor violating several department policies for providing information \u2013 including details about officers working during the protest \u2013 to Black Lives Matter protest leader Sarah Williams, a friend of Middleton\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The council, which serves as the legislative branch of county government, unanimously found Middleton guilty of \u201coverall misconduct\u201d and \u201csharing internal police information,\u201d according to the report. Middleton had also been charged with being dishonest about his communications with Williams, a charge that was dismissed.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The department alleged 3 misconduct related disciplinary charges against Middleton for sending texts, screenshots and strategic operations plans to an activist during last summer\u2019s protests. Middleton was found guilty on 2 of the 3 charges.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kristen Pflum (@kristenpflumFOX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kristenpflumFOX\/status\/1362646076264742912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 19, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Fox 56 News <a href=\"https:\/\/foxlexington.com\/news\/hours-long-hearing-held-to-determine-employment-fate-of-lexington-officer\/\">acquired<\/a>&nbsp;14 pages of information related to the probe through a public records request. According to the documents, Williams had been arrested last June for multiple charges, including inciting a riot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring their investigation a search warrant was obtained for all records located on the phone and the apps downloaded to it,\u201d a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/495224432\/Ofc-Middleton-Redacted-Disciplinary-Hearing#download&amp;from_embed\">report<\/a> by the Lexington Police Department said. \u201cWhile reviewing these records concerning conversations between Officer Jervis Middletown and Sarah Williams were located on the Facebook Messenger App and forwarded to the Public Integrity Unit for investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMs. Williams and her followers launched personal attacks and insults towards individual officers, weaponizing information they obtained, in an effort to embarrass the officers, and impair the efficiency of the agency,\u201d the police report continued. \u201cThese attacks, along with the other protestors\u2019 demands, created an unduly amount of stress on the officers and impacted their ability to maintain a professional demeanor during the protests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThroughout this time period it appears that Officer Jervis Middleton advised Ms. Williams that certain officers and command staff were \u2018racists\u2019 and directed her to call them out during the protest. He also provided her copies of sensitive \u2018law enforcement only\u2019 communications, including emails and text messages which outlined staffing, operational, and deployment plans,\u201d the report added.<\/p>\n<p>The Herald-Leader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kentucky.com\/news\/local\/counties\/fayette-county\/article249324830.html\">reported<\/a> that the protests last year \u201cwent on for 59 nights during the summer,\u201d and:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Middleton challenged his termination, saying the information he provided Williams did not jeopardize officers\u2019 safety and was free speech. During Thursday\u2019s hearing, lawyers for Middleton, who is Black, said Middleton has faced repeated racial taunts and discrimination from fellow officers and was frustrated because nothing had been done to address his longstanding concerns about racism in the department. Middleton was also frustrated about the repeated killings of Black Americans by police officers. \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Lt. David Biroschick of the public integrity unit, which investigates complaints against officers, testified Thursday that Middleton at first lied to investigators about providing the information to Williams. When confronted with evidence of the communication, he finally admitted it.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Police testified Thursday that Middleton shared a screenshot of a notice that the department\u2019s emergency response unit, or its tactical or SWAT team, would be called out to help with the protest. The other information shared with Williams was an email asking if officers wanted to work the protests.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The ACLU of Kentucky issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu-ky.org\/en\/news\/aclu-ky-statement-regarding-firing-lexington-police-department-officer-jervis-middleton\">statement<\/a> on Friday evening expressing concern that Middleton \u201cwas more swiftly investigated and harshly punished for sharing non-critical information than officers who use excessive force against protesters or create the culture of racism and hostility Middleton reported to no avail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDialogue between law enforcement and protesters is a productive practice that can decrease conflict and advance the goals of both protesters and police,\u201d said ACLU of Kentucky Executive Director Michael Aldridge. \u201cSimply put, protest organizers should know whether and under what circumstances SWAT unit (or other militarized police) will be deployed. Clear channels of communication and shared expectations make tense situations safer for police, protesters, and bystanders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A police officer in Lexington, Kentucky, was fired early Friday morning after being accused of providing information about other cops to a Black Lives Matter protest organizer. According to the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2181583,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/BLM-ky.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Kentucky Police Officer Fired For Giving Black Lives Matter Protest Leader Info On Cops","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/BLM-ky.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Kentucky Police Officer Fired For Giving Black Lives Matter Protest Leader Info On Cops","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2181583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}