Cop Fired For Carl Crawford Slur

A cop has been fired for directing racial slurs at Carl Crawford, the Boston Red Sox outfielder. According to ESPN, Officer John Perrault will be looking for new employment after Massachusetts mayor Dean Mazzarella summarily dismissed the white police officer, saying he had “brought discredit” on himself and the department.

Mazzarella’s decision arrived a day after Police Chief Robert Healey said Perrault had used racial slurs at least twice before, and recommended that the mayor fire Perrault. In his termination notice to Perrault, Mayor Mazzarella wrote:

“You have demonstrated through your racist comments that you cannot continue as a patrol officer. […] Your actions are so egregious that severe discipline is warranted. There is no place for someone who exhibits such objectionable behavior in the Leominster Police Department.”

Perrault’s firing dates back to a July 5 minor league game in Manchester, N.H. The off-duty cop was in the crowd and taunted Carl Crawford, calling him a ‘Monday’ – a derogatory term for black individuals, often associated with Mondays being one of the most-hated days of the week (such as in the common phrase, ‘I hate Mondays.’) The outfielder notified stadium officials, and since the incident, Perrault has been on paid leave.

Perrault still has avenues of of appeal open to him, and his attorney Joseph Sandulli confirmed his client would either challenge the decision through the civil service commission, or file a grievance through the police union.

In his client’s defence, Sandulli said the cop didn’t intend the word to be taken as a racist insult:

“He was criticizing Crawford for being a bad player, not because he was a black man.”

Mayor Mazzarella took a rather different view, however. In his termination notice, he mentioned previous alleged racist comments made by Perrault. The first occurred in a bar, where the cop allegedly used a racial slur against black NBA players. The second took place at Leominster’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration, when Perrault, upon seeing a black man wearing a shirt displaying the name of the Irish beer Guinness, commented to a fellow officer: “I didn’t know they serve Guinness in Africa.”

Sandulli batted back both of these claims, noting that two superior officers with Perrault at the parade clearly didn’t feel the comment was improper, as they didn’t report it. He added that the alleged remarks at the bar were hearsay, after the city failed to produce the witness for questioning.

A Red Sox spokeswoman said the team would have no comment on the decision.