ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando police officer, who was suspended over a Facebook post calling African Americans "savages," was caught on body camera video calling a crowd of people outside a nightclub "savages" a year before he wrote the Facebook post, records show.
The Orlando Police Citizen’s Review Board told Channel 9’s Samantha Manning that the body camera investigation was never brought before them—and they were unaware of it when reviewing the Facebook post.
The body camera video, from May 2017, shows a heated situation between Officer Robert Shellhorn and people outside the Parliament House nightclub on Orange Blossom Trail.
Shellhorn apparently sprayed a woman with a chemical agent at one point. Records show it was to “gain control and disperse the crowd.”
"I know I need your ID to document it. I sprayed you,” Shellhorn can be heard saying on the body camera video.
Shellhorn can then be heard saying, “Time to go, savages. Go!”
An internal investigation found Shellhorn violated the “conduct toward the public” policy. He was suspended for 80 hours and ordered to take sensitivity training following the May 2017 incident.
In April 2018, Shellhorn was suspended for 80 hours for the Facebook post. At that time, the review board asked OPD to terminate Shellhorn from the department.
Chief John Mina said while he was embarrassed and ashamed by the statements, he stood by the department’s discipline.
Last month, Mina changed the department’s social media policy, allowing the agency to fire officers for what they post online.
It was the first change to the policy in seven years.
Cox Media Group
