Baltimore Police Union Yet To Break Silence Over Controversial Email

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Three days after a controversial email from the second-in-command of Baltimore City's police union, there is still no comment from the union, after the official called protesters "thugs." The silence comes at a tense time for the city, still reeling from the Department of Justice's scathing report detailing years of abuses on the force.

The Twitter account of the vice president of Baltimore City's police union, Lieutenant Victor Gearhart, still contains the outspoken comments that led the police commissioner to condemn and reassign him back in January, calling protestors 'unbathed parasites and thugs on society," writing "thugs always act like thugs," calling for the Mosbys to be "deported," referring to the "white devil," and Black Lives Matter as a "racist hate movement."

The union's president has yet to break his silence over Gearhart's email to the entire police department, repeatedly calling the protesters at the state police union convention "thugs," outraging the commissioner and leading to Gearhart's suspension.

This comes as police are trying to repair their relationship with the community following a damning Department of Justice report that revealed a history of police abuses, particularly targeting African Americans.

"There should be a corresponding feeling within the community that is more optimistic about how we police, and I think that's the next step for the city. We need to police differently," said Commissioner Kevin Davis, Baltimore City Police Department.

Freddie Gray's family lawyer Billy Murphy lashed out at the union just last week.

"They are not representative of this department, dominated as they are by old white retired officers who come from the older generation," said Murphy.

WJZ recently spoke to Johns Hopkins' policing expert Doug Ward about changes in the ranks of officers.

"That's what you're seeing in Baltimore, you're seeing a move to do that, to start hiring people in the spirit of service... not in the 'us versus them' mentality," said Ward.

As for Lieutenant Gearhart and his lawyer, both he and his lawyer have not replied to WJZ's requests for comment, just like the union.

Gearhart is suing the city, claiming social media rules infringe on officers' First Amendment rights, as he said on Twitter: "Report me can't silence me."

WJZ will keep pressing the police union for a comment on that controversial email.