By Associated Press - Monday, June 8, 2020

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A pair of people who work in South Dakota law enforcement have been disciplined for social media posts they made about the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests.

Protesters nationwide have called for police reforms after Floyd’s May 25 death after a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee on his neck for several minutes even after the handcuffed black man stopped moving and pleading for air.

The South Dakota attorney general’s office reported that a contractor is no longer working with it after the office learned of the contractor’s racist social media posts regarding a Black Lives Matter protest in Topeka, Kansas, according to the Rapid City Journal. The contractor, Tessa Mitchell, wrote on Facebook: “This is why many of us don’t trust black people … look at what your people are doing to everyone. Right now I could care less if they all got shot.”

A spokesman for the attorney general said Mitchell’s position was terminated the same day her comments were discovered, but did not make it clear whether she was fired or resigned. She told the Pierre Capitol Journal, which first reported the incident, that she had already resigned before making the comments.

Mitchell worked as a contract coordinator for the Crisis Intervention Team training, which teaches officers to respond to people in mental or health crises.

In a separate incident, Pennington County Jail correctional officer Kathleen Burns was disciplined for Facebook comments that said Floyd’s death was his fault, used derogatory terms for developmentally disabled people and described how people in jail lie about not being able to breathe.

“We denounce the statements and don’t condone them at all,” Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom told the Rapid City Journal.

But Thom decided to discipline Burns rather than fire her, saying she had a good track record and her actions at the jail are monitored by video and supervisors. He did not say how she was disciplined.

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