A Columbia Police lieutenant under fire for his social media activities was placed on administrative leave soon after the department began investigating, city officials confirmed Tuesday.

Lt. Brian Tate’s leave began Thursday, the day after the Tribune published screenshots of his tweeting several misogynistic and racially charged comments, as well as shaming an apparently homeless woman caught in the snow. While confirming his leave, city officials declined to answer questions about it, calling it a personnel matter.

“Lt. Brian Tate was placed on paid administrative leave effective January 3, 2019,” city spokesman Brian Adkisson said. “This is a personnel issue and no further information is currently available for release.”

While the posts exposed by the Tribune were made on his personal account, Tate repeatedly identified himself as a Columbia police officer in his feed. He has been employed at the department since 2000 and in September was promoted to lieutenant in the patrol division. The department’s social media policy prohibits off-duty speech that “tends to compromise or damage the mission, function, reputation or professionalism of the Columbia Police Department or its employees.”

Columbia Mayor Brian Treece said on Tuesday that Tate’s comments do not reflect the values of the community.

“We expect our police officers to be role models for everyone but especially children,” Treece said. “This type of behavior should not be tolerated. Social media should not be a platform for derogatory language for anyone. Leadership starts at the top and we expect everyone to model appropriate behavior that is inspiring and uplifting, not derogatory.”



Chris Kelly, Treece’s opponent in the upcoming April election and a former state representative and associate judge, said Tate’s comments call into question his promotion and role in internal affairs.

“There is a difference between an assertion of racism among CPD officers and seeming proof of its existence,” Kelly said. “Brian Tate appears to exhibit racial attitudes that, at the very least, call his suitability into question as an internal affairs officer, let alone worthy of his promotion to lieutenant. Is this attitude shared by other CPD officers as a broader, more pervasive culture within the department, as is believed by many? That is a question that must be answered without hesitation.”

Kelly also called for elected officials to respond.

“An internal investigation is the appropriate starting point, but it should not end there," he said. "This community deserves a police force that reflects our highest values. It falls to our Mayor and council through our Acting City Manager to determine the facts and respond accordingly.”

Tate’s tweets have drawn the attention of several national news outlets. Newsweek published an original piece and Kansas City Star columnist Melinda Henneberger delivered a scathing rebuke, questioning why Tate still has a badge.

Social and racial justice equality group Race Matters, Friends also criticized Tate’s postings. The group questioned how he could serve in an internal affairs unit given his beliefs. Member Carol Brown stated Tate’s expressions were part of a larger culture in the department, one condoned by its leadership under now former chief Ken Burton.

“Why do I think he's only the tip of the iceberg and not the sharpest tool in the drawer,” Brown said. “This is what was made acceptable under leadership like that of former Chief Ken Burton. People would not be posting comments like that unless they receive positive feedback from their peers.”

Tate was the department’s internal affairs supervisor from November 2015 to September 2018. His job was investigating alleged misconduct or wrongdoing by department officers “thoroughly and objectively.”

His Twitter feed during the time he served in internal affairs, and over the course of several years he was employed with Columbia police, showed a bias against segments of the community. He used slurs such as “libtards” to describe those with views opposite his own and in one tweet insinuated gang violence would be lessened had the south won the Civil War.

Those comments were related to a controversial video by U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Louisiana, who in 2017 drew fire for writing “Kill them all” about “radicalized Islamic suspects on his Facebook page. The video was shot when the lawmaker was serving as a Louisiana sheriff’s spokesman.

In the controversial 2016 clip, Higgins delivers a hard-line stance against gang activity that seemingly dismisses due process, calling the mostly black suspects who had not yet been convicted of crimes, “thugs,” “heathens” and “animals.”

“Man if the south would have won...,” Tate tweeted in response.

In February 2016, President Barack Obama hosted a reception for veteran and emerging civil rights leaders that included DeShaunya Ware of the Concerned Student 1950 group that drew national attention to racial issues at the University of Missouri in 2015.

In one tweet, Tate linked to a news article about the event and Obama’s remarks that the work of racial justice equality group Black Lives Matter was outstanding, calling the president’s comments “disgraceful.”

In other posts, Tate shamed women for dressing sexy on Halloween, retweeted a post that people with pale skin and red hair have few friends and posted another bashing Asian drivers.

Tate did not respond to emailed questions about his posts. About 30 minutes after the questions were sent to Tate, his Twitter page was deleted. It later re-appeared and was set to private. It has since been deleted again.

ppratt@columbiatribune.com

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