RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – Two Richmond police officers fired for allegedly making inappropriate comments and threatening remarks about the president and first lady, want their jobs back, according to their lawyer.
[EXCLUSIVE: Source says RPD cops made ‘inappropriate comments’ about Obama, first lady]
Attorney James Towey sent a letter to Richmond City Attorney Allen Jackson requesting that the hearings on Nov. 14 and Dec. 12 should be open to the public.
The letter states the officers’ case involves “disturbing facts that shed light on dysfunction within the Richmond City government as well as instances of despicable misconduct by particular city leaders.”
Towey told CBS 6 News’ Sandra Jones that the letter speaks for itself — and this his clients want an open hearing to give their side of the story.
Towery also said that while he doesn’t want to try the case in the media, he is putting the city on notice — and intends to fight for the open hearing.
“The citizens have a right to be informed, through the presentation of evidence in open hearings, about misconduct committed at the hands of individuals whose salaries they pay and about an extreme abuse of power by one individual, in particular, who they elected to high office,” Towerey also wrote in the letter to Jackson.
Towey told Jones that if the open hearing isn’t granted, the citizens and media should demand answers, since he says the city advocates for transparency.
The officers were fired after an investigation stemming from an RPD source who told CBS 6 News’ Sandra Jones about the comments.
The whistleblower said the inappropriate comments were made by a 20-year police veteran, against the president and first lady, who were in Richmond for a campaign rally at VCU.
“There was an officer providing exterior security to the President on that day on the phone with the supervisor. The supervisor said to that particular officer, ‘you’re down there right? So, you can take a couple of shots, you might have to kill yourself, but you can take a couple of shots.’”
The source also said that “another officer in the background started talking and he said, ‘yeah, somebody should plant a bomb underneath the stage while they’re on there and blow it up.’”
As for Michelle Obama, the source said an officer said that nobody wanted to see her “unless she gets undressed or gets naked,” the source told Jones the officer said.
Stay with CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for the latest updates on this story.
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