A Sanford, Florida police officer was relieved of duty after video surfaced this week of him singing, while uniformed, onstage with death metal band Vital Remains.
It was reported that Officer Andrew Ricks attended the Vital Remains concert in uniform on November 13th and joined the band on stage to sing “Dechristianize.”
There seemed to be some degree of public outrage over the song’s lyrics, which include the line: “Let the killing begin.”
Police chief Cecil Smith stated in a report that:
“An incident of this nature erodes the thin fibers of trust which already exist between the community and the police, and it will not be tolerated within the Sanford Police Department.”
Officer Ricks had worked for the department for six years without incident.
The twist to the story is that Officer Ricks had already submitted a letter of resignation from the department on October 30th, with a pending separation date of November 20th. The department became aware of the “singing incident” on Novemebr 17th and proceeded to fire him only days before his scheduled final day on the force—perhaps qualifying him for unemployment? Considering how many cops got to keep their jobs after shooting unarmed people, termination for growling along with a death metal band seems just a tiny bit extreme, but it seems Ricks was already done with the job.
Anyway, it looks from the video like Officer Ricks is having the time of his life:
Via: WFTV
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Metal albums with googly eyes
