The Louisville Metro Police major who called Black Lives Matter supporters “punks” who will be “washing our cars” has been relieved of duty and will retire, the department said Friday.
LMPD interim Chief Robert Schroeder addressed the offensive statements at a press conference, saying Maj. Bridget Hallahan will be gone from the department on Thursday.
“We received several inquiries regarding emails by Fifth Division Maj. Bridget Hallahan. We are aware of these emails, and we have been looking into them,” Schroeder said.
“They were her personal opinions and do not represent the views of this department,” he said. “She has been relieved of her command of the Fifth Division, and Maj. Hallahan has accepted responsibility for her emails and is retiring from the department, effective Oct. 1.”
Hallahan’s derogatory statements were made last month and first reported by the Courier Journal on Wednesday, shortly after a Kentucky grand jury declined to charge any officers with the March 13 police shooting death of Breonna Taylor.
“I know it is hard to keep our thoughts and opinions to ourselves sometimes, especially when we, as a whole or as an individual, become the target of people in the public who criticize what we do without even knowing the facts,” Hallahan reportedly wrote to her division amid nightly protests and an alleged officer “doxing” incident.
“These ANTIFA and BLM people, especially the ones who just jumped on the bandwagon ‘yesterday’ because they became ‘woke’ – insert eye roll here – do not deserve a second glance or thought from us. Our little pinky toenails have more character, morals, and ethics, than these punks have in their entire body,” she purportedly said.
“Do not stop to their level. Do not respond to them. If we do, we only validate what they did. Don’t make them important, because they are not. They will be the ones washing our cars, cashing us out at the Walmart, or living in their parents’ basement (paying) COD for their entire life,” Hallahan allegedly wrote.
