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MBTA cop on paid leave for bigoted Facebook page – Metro US

MBTA cop on paid leave for bigoted Facebook page

Transit Police Officer Officer Jason Barriteau wears a

A veteran MBTA cop allegedly behind a Facebook page that ridiculed people with Down Syndrome and joked about rape, anti-Semitism and racism remains on paid administrative leave, a T official said Wednesday.

Officer Jason Barriteau was outed Monday by WCVB in an investigative report exposing the page, which was created under the name “Al Sharpton.”

The page, which has been removed, reportedly disparaged people of different races, religions and sexual orientations. In one photograph, Barriteau wore a T-shirt with the Pillsbury doughboy mimicking Adolf Hitler with the caption “white flour.”

MBTA Spokesman Joe Pesaturo said in an email that Barriteau is being disciplined for violating the department’s social networking policy, which forbids officers from posting such comments.

“The investigation has been completed. The disciplinary process is underway,” Pesaturo said.

Under the policy, officers can’t post anything that “reflects a lack of good moral character” or “would bring unfavorable criticism or embarrassment” upon the department.

In July, another transit officer, Joseph Rossi, was removed from his position at the Transit Police Academy for a Facebook post that read: “Farther’s (sic) Day, the most confusing day in Roxbury.”

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