Cop Who Blared "Sweet Home Alabama" Suspended

A Chicago police officer has been suspended 10 days for playing a song some consider racist during a protest on the city’s West Side on Saturday.

The suspension, which will occur pending the approval of Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, comes five days after the officer blasted the song “Sweet Home Alabama” by the band Lynyrd Skynyrd during a protest of recent anti-police-violence march, one of many that have come up over the past weeks after recent announcements that white police officers who killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York City — both unarmed African-Americans — will not face charges.

The officer’s name was not included in a statement police released Thursday.

In the statement, the officer said he was playing the music as a “fan of the University of Alabama,” which was playing the University of Missouri for the SEC championship and a shot at the NCAA playoffs.

But the department said it “fully understands sensitivities related to the song and, regardless, we cannot condone any behavior that may be viewed as disruptive or disrespectful to any protester or resident.”

Read more via Chicago Tribune