Fort Lauderdale Cop Fired Over Racist Facebook Post

Three months after four Fort Lauderdale cops were fired for their roles in racist videos and text messages, another Fort Lauderdale cop, Jeffery Feldewert, was let go over racist comments he made on his Facebook.

Feldewert, 45, was suspended on June 11 for comments he made on his Facebook in December regarding a news item about three African-American men who were arrested for their involvement in a bar fight.

Feldewert posted a photo of a black man being arrested and wrote "Typical Hoodrat Behavior" to accompany it. The picture itself was a meme that read: "Black People. Because without them the evening news wouldn't be as much fun to watch."


According to a letter from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department sent to Feldewert, someone commented on the Facebook post, saying, "I don't know you, but I just want to say that you seem to be a disgusting and sad individual. Based on your picture/comment. I hope you are not a cop as well because you have a strong opinion about an entire race which I can only imagine clouds your judgment. SAD!"

The same letter notified Feldewert that he was being suspended with his annual pay of $80,121 after an internal affairs investigation. He was then let go from the department on June 11, when his suspension expired. 

In March, Officers Jason Holding, James Wells, and Christopher Sousa were found to have sent text messages about "killing niggers" and were named in a video of a mock movie trailer depicting Barack Obama as a thuggish villain. The cop who produced the video, Alex Alvarez, had resigned voluntarily last fall when an internal investigation into the video began. 

The four cops became the focus of an internal investigation in October when Police Chief Franklin Adderley received an email tipping him off he had racist police officers on the force. The tipster, Alvarez's former fiancée, sent Adderley screenshots of the racist text exchanges among the four officers and gave testimony in a sworn statement that Alvarez had racist views toward black people. She also sent Adderley the video made by Alvarez that described President Obama with racial slurs and featured images of black people getting attacked by dogs and white people with guns.

Through the Fraternal Order of Police, the four officers began an appeals process to have their certifications reinstated. Likewise, the Fraternal Order of Police is representing Feldewert in an appeals process to try to get him his job back. Fort Lauderdale Police, meanwhile, say that Feldewert is not in any way connected to the Alvarez, Holding, Wells, and Sousa case.