A New Jersey police officer is now under investigation after posting a lengthy anti-Muslim Facebook rant this week.
“I’m sure one cop out there ruins it for all. But I don’t hear anyone stating that I’m a good one. All I hear is that I’m with them too. A cop is a cop is a cop. Then a Muslim is a Muslim is a Muslim,” Hudson County Sheriff’s officer Alex Pino said on his social media post.
Even though he later deleted the profanity-laden vent, a screen shot was later shared by NJ.com
He has since told the news site that he posted the comment “in the heat of the moment” and was only “defending” himself and his fellow officers against anti-police sentiments posted by one of his Facebook friends.
Pino, who he is a disabled veteran of the Iraq War, says he is remorseful but also believes everyone is blowing the incident out of proportion.
“We’re entitled to our opinions, and I had mine. I’m tired of being bashed all the time,” he said. “I’m in fear for my life… I have to protect my family, my children. I can’t take them to a movie theatre because I’m afraid about what’s going to happen.”
“Of course I would protect (Muslims),” he explained. “You know, the good ones, not the extremists.”
J.P. Escobar, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said that an internal investigation was launched after the department was made aware of Pino’s comments.