A St. Paul police sergeant resigned Wednesday after he apologized last month for posting on Facebook “Run them over” in advance of a Black Lives Matter St. Paul march.

An internal affairs investigation into Sgt. Jeffrey Rothecker was completed, but his resignation stopped the process, said Steve Linders, a St. Paul police spokesman. He said there is no public information because a final disposition had not been reached.

Rothecker had been on paid administrative leave since the complaint was filed. He was a St. Paul police officer for 22 years.

“He apologizes for the damage that his words have caused,” Chris Wachtler, attorney for the St. Paul Police Federation, said Wednesday.

Community groups had called for Rothecker to be fired. Generally speaking, the process of an internal investigation, decision about discipline and appeal could have taken up to a year, according to the city. For veterans who are honorably discharged — including Rothecker, an Army veteran — state law would have called for more due-process steps, if he had been disciplined and appealed it.

Mayor Chris Coleman said in a statement Wednesday, “I am pleased that Chief (Thomas) Smith has accepted the resignation of Mr. Rothecker and that he is no longer a member of the St. Paul Police Department. I believe it was the quickest and most certain way to reach a final outcome.

“The St. Paul Police Department is one of the finest in the country. The department and Chief Smith are absolutely committed to strong relationships with the communities they serve. The actions Mr. Rothecker admits he engaged in were disgusting, harmful and out of step with the values of the department and the community it serves.”

Black Lives Matter St. Paul said Feb. 8 that it would protest at Red Bull Crashed Ice on Feb. 27 if several demands were not met, including Rothecker being terminated. BLM St. Paul leader Rashad Turner said Wednesday the protest will go on.

The Rothecker case began after someone with the screen name “JM Roth” made a comment about protesters on Facebook under a Pioneer Press article before a Jan. 18 unpermitted protest. The post referred to protesters as “idiots” and detailed what drivers could do to avoid being charged with a crime if their vehicles struck someone during the march.

Andrew Henderson, who frequently videotapes officers at work because he says he wants them held accountable, believed JM Roth was a St. Paul officer and he filed an internal affairs complaint with the police department, naming Rothecker.

“I didn’t start this out trying to get a police officer terminated or anything like that,” Henderson said Wednesday. “My intention from calling the police department about his post was just to have him accountable for his actions and hopefully for him to quit posting hateful messages like that.”

Some community members have called for Rothecker to be criminally charged. St. Paul police Sgt. Mike Ernster, a department spokesman, said Wednesday, “I’m unaware of whether there is a criminal investigation at this time.” City Attorney Samuel Clark said his office has “not ruled out anything at this point.”

Rothecker had issued a public apology Jan. 20, saying, “I understand that the post was insensitive and wrong. My poor choice of words conveyed a message I did not intend and am not proud of. Shortly after submitting the post, I re-read it and deleted it. As a law enforcement officer, I would never intentionally encourage someone to commit a crime.”

A Minneapolis organization said it realized on the day of Rothecker’s apology that “JM Roth” had left a similar comment on its Facebook page two months earlier.

Rothecker’s most recent assignment at the police department was investigating crimes against elders.

In St. Paul, when there is an internal affairs investigation into an officer, the Police-Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission reviews most cases and makes recommendations on findings. A decision about discipline falls to the police chief, but employees can then appeal discipline.

Jeff Martin, St. Paul NAACP president, said people may get caught up in whether Rothecker should have been fired or resigned, “but the end result is where you want to be with him not being on the force anymore.” In any case, Martin said, employees always have the right to quit their jobs.

No provisions in state law allow for an officer’s pension to be forfeited, including if he is terminated for misconduct or convicted of a crime, according to the Public Employees Retirement Association.