Police in Pearl, Mississippi, say ‘welcome aboard’ to Jeremy Rast, who lost job last year from nearby Richland agency. A Mississippi police department has proudly announced its hiring of an officer who was fired from another agency last summer after video captured him telling at least one Latino man that he encountered on duty to “go back to Mexico”.
A social media post on Thursday from the police department of Pearl asked community members to join the agency in “giving a warm welcome” to its newest member, Jeremy Rast, whose recorded comments while patrolling the streets of nearby Richland, Mississippi, in June cost him his job as an officer there.
“We’re excited to have him join the team … and look forward to the great work he will bring to our community,” the Pearl police department’s post on Facebook said. “Welcome aboard!!!”. Pearl’s police department deactivated comments on the post. But of more than 780 reactions to the post that were visible early Friday afternoon, roughly 260 were “angry” and nearly 225 were “haha”, according to the platform.
Rast was part of a group of Richland police officers who responded to reports of a domestic disturbance involving a gun on 2 June, as the Mississippi news station WLBT reported. In view of a camera taking video, Rast ended up telling a group of Latino men to “go back to Mexico or something like … whatever – I don’t care”.
