A New York state correction officer has been suspended without pay after posting a twisted meme on social media cruelly mocking the victims of Saturday’s massacre at a Buffalo supermarket, officials said.
Gregory C. Foster II, a prison guard at Attica Correctional Facility, is facing termination over a meme posted to Facebook that joked that a “clean up” was needed in the aisles of Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, where self-professed white supremacist Payton Gendron, 18, allegedly gunned down 10 black people on Saturday.
“This vile posting does not represent the morals and values of the thousands of staff members in the Department,” the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision told The Post in a statement.
The since-deleted post included a photo of the supermarket, along with a crude message below and a laughing emoji.
“Clean up on aisle 3, no wait 4,” the text read. “Also on 7, 9, 12 and 13.”
Foster allegedly also wrote in the post, “Too soon? This should weed out some FB friends.”
Corrections officials said the comments by Foster were “despicable,” adding that the post violated multiple department policies and would not be tolerated.
“The department has engaged the Civil Rights Task Force, which we are members of, for potential criminal prosecution,” state corrections officials said. “The department has also launched an internal investigation to identify and discipline any staff who may have engaged with the posting.”
Foster, a veteran employee hired by the department in 1997, had earned nearly $81,000 annually prior to his suspension. Attempts to reach him early Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Screenshots of the offending post circulating online showed Foster identifying himself on Facebook as “self-employed” and hailing from Arcade, New York, about 40 miles southeast of Buffalo.
The head of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association blasted Foster’s “obscene” meme in a statement.
“We were recently made aware of an incident on social media involving a small handful of members who shared obscene jokes related [to] this weekend’s horrific shooting in Buffalo,” president Michael Powers said in a statement to The Post. “Simply put, hateful rhetoric has no place in our organization.”
Powers said his members “pride” themselves on being “engrained in the fabric” of the communities they serve and won’t tolerate actions like Foster’s crude post.
“We proudly stand with the Buffalo community, law enforcement entities who responded to this tragedy, and all those affected by this senseless act of violence,” Powers said.
