Pennsylvania officer tells minor he’ll be ‘glad’ to jail him at 18, then using homophobic slur
A police officer wearing a vest stood by a police car. (Getty Images)
A Facebook video posted by a Monongahela mother appears to show a Pennsylvania police officer threatening a 15-year-old with jail when he turns 18, before using a homophobic slur.
In the footage, the officer can be heard shouting from a police vehicle window: “When you turn 18, I’ll be glad to put you in jail, you fa***t.”
The encounter took place in Monongahela, a Washington County community about 25 miles south of Pittsburgh. The video was recorded by the teen while he was standing by his bicycle, then shared on Facebook by his mother, Marissa Leezer.
Leezer wrote alongside the post: “Unnecessary to talk to our kids like this for loitering and being loud! Wonder why police aren’t respected, they don’t respect us or our kids.”
The officer also threatened a $500 fine and used profanity before the slur.
What have police said about the video?
Monongahela Police Chief Kevin Harris confirmed to WPXI that the officer in the video works for the department and said he was addressing the officer’s behaviour. Harris also told KDKA that the officer has shown remorse.
Harris said police were called about a disturbance near the aquatorium. Before the encounter with the officer, the boy and his friends had been spending time at a local McDonald’s, although that detail was unconfirmed.
What happens next for the officer?
The officer remained on duty on 9 November while the city and the Teamsters union reviewed the matter, KDKA reported. Some in the community have urged that the officer be placed on administrative leave.
One local resident, Max Jenkins, told WPXI: “That’s not OK behavior. No adult should be speaking to a kid like that, especially someone in a position of power like that.”
Video-recorded encounters between police and members of the public often draw rapid scrutiny, particularly when discriminatory language is caught on camera. In 2023, a viral NYPD video allegedly captured an officer using a homophobic slur and the department confirmed an internal review was under way.
