Per CBS St. Louis, a Ferguson police officer has been suspended after he called the memorial for slain teenager Michael Brown a “pile of trash.”

The Brown memorial, erected at the spot where Brown was fatally shot by officer Darren Wilson, was destroyed Christmas night after a car plowed into it, many suspect deliberately:

Just got to #MikeBrown memorial and it's been ran over. Someone who saw it on video said it was intentional. pic.twitter.com/UlR2TGSxCS — Justin (@jay_myles2) December 26, 2014

But when Officer Tim Zoll got a call from the Washington Post about it, he responded “…a pile of trash in the middle of the street? The Washington Post is making a call over this?”

Zoll initially denied that he had made the statements, saying the Post had misquoted him; he later came clean to his superiors. The department has placed him on unpaid leave and begun disciplinary proceedings.

Below is the Ferguson PD’s statement:

Earlier this week, the Public Information Officer for the City of Ferguson Police Department responded to an inquiry from a Washington Post reporter regarding the destruction of the Michael Brown memorial. Upon being confronted with the results of the Ferguson Police Department’s investigation regarding the remarks that were attributed to the Public Information Officer, the officer admitted to Department investigators that he did in fact make the remarks attributed to him, and that he misled his superiors when asked about the contents of the interview. The officer has been placed on unpaid leave, effective immediately, while disciplinary proceedings begin. The City of Ferguson wants to emphasize that negative remarks about the Michael Brown memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department and are in direct contradiction to the efforts of City officials to relocate the memorial to a more secure location. The Ferguson Police Department also wants to note that even after the officer’s initial denial of his statement; the Police Chief continued the investigation until the truth was discovered. The City of Ferguson and the Ferguson Police Department in particular, are focused on creating a trusting relationship with the entire community and taking impactful steps to improve the effectiveness of the department.

[h/t CBS St. Louis]

[Image via screengrab]

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