Whistleblower fired for revealing cops threatened Obama while protecting him 
 
 By David Edwards 
 
 Thursday, February 21, 2013 14:20 EDT 
 
 A Richmond police officer who reported fellow cops for allegedly threatening President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama has been fired from his job on the force. 
 
 WTVR on Wednesday confirmed that the officer, who did not wish to be named, had been called to police headquarters where he was terminated on Tuesday. 
 
 The officer blew the whistle on a 20-year department veteran and other members of the Richmond force after they made inappropriate comments while providing protection to the president and first lady. 
 
 “There was an officer providing exterior security to the president on that day on the phone with the supervisor,” the whistleblower explained to WTVR last May. “The supervisor said to that particular officer, ‘you’re down there right? So, you can take a couple of shots, you might have to kill yourself, but you can take a couple of shots.’” 
 
 He said that the supervisor made those comments to a sharpshooter on the day of the president’s visit to Richmond. 
 
 And “another officer in the background started talking and he said, ‘yeah, somebody should plant a bomb underneath the stage while they’re on there and blow it up,’” the source said. 
 
 Inappropriate remarks were also made about Michelle Obama. 
 
 “Nobody wants to see her anyway — unless she gets undressed or get [sic] naked,” an officer allegedly said. 
 
 On Wednesday, the whistleblower told WTVR that he had been fired for violating department policy by doing an interview with the station. 
 
 Virginia employment attorney Thomas Robert pointed out that the officer should have been protected under the First Amendment because he was “speaking about a matter of public concern as a citizen.” 
 
 “It concerns me and it should concern others, if he was retaliated based upon his right to express his concern on this public matter as well as his opinion,” Roberts said. “There’s no question that this will have a chilling effect upon other members of the police force who will be afraid if they speak out about a matter of public concern. They too may lose their job.” 
 
 Although a Secret Service investigation last year concluded that the officers had not violated the law with their comments about the president and first lady, two officers were fired and now want their jobs back. 
 
 “Unfortunately, the termination of the self-proclaimed ‘whistleblower’ does nothing to remedy the fact that his false allegations resulted in the termination of two officers,” James Towey, an attorney for the officers told WTVR in a statement. “Their careers were ended and they have gone through eight months of hell.” 
 
 Watch this video from WTVR, broadcast Feb. 20, 2013. ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video 
 
 RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - In his re-election bid for the White House, President Barack Obama stopped at VCU's Siegel Center earlier this month where thousands of people flocked to hear him speak. 
 
 But a source within the Richmond Police Department (RPD), who does not want to reveal his identity for fear of retribution, is blowing the whistle on the department. 
 
 The man tells CBS 6 News' Sandra Jones that inappropriate comments were made by a 20-year police veteran, against the president and first lady. 
 
 "There was an officer providing exterior security to the President on that day on the phone with the supervisor. The supervisor said to that particular officer, 'you're down there right? So, you can take a couple of shots, you might have to kill yourself, but you can take a couple of shots.'" 
 
 The RPD source said the supervisor said that to a sharpshooter while on the phone during the department's roll call on the day of the president`s visit. 
 
 The source also said that "another officer in the background started talking and he said, 'yeah, somebody should plant a bomb underneath the stage while they're on there and blow it up.' " 
 
 And the police source also said comments were allegedly made about Michelle Obama. 
 
 "Nobody wants to see her anyway -- unless she gets undressed or get naked," the source told Jones was what one officer said. 
 
 No one at RPD is commenting, but the department is investigating the alleged incident. 
 
 A spokesperson said the Secret Service investigated the complaint, and did not find any wrongdoing. But the whistleblower claims it took the police department two weeks before the matter was addressed. 
 
 "It makes me feel terrible, terrible," said the whistleblowrer. "You see it as a loss. How could somebody in law enforcement be talking about killing somebody else...especially government. President of the United States, the highest in the land." 
 
 Richmond police said the officers in question did not have an assignment related to the president’s detail. 
 
 "The Richmond Police Department has conferred with the Secret Service. The Secret Service considers this matter resolved," wrote Richmond Police spokesperson Gene Lepley in a news release. 
 
 A RPD source also said the alleged comments, while not criminal in nature, are being investigated by the department for appropriate administrative action. 
 
 However, the department will not identify the officers nor discuss their current work status. 
 
 Stay with CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for the latest on this story. Sign up for Breaking News email alerts from WTVR.com. 
 
 Download the CBS 6 Breaking News App for your smartphone: Android | Blackberry | iPhone and iPad 
 
 RELATED: COMPLETE COVERAGE: Obama Rally at VCU ||||| Please enable Javascript to watch this video 
 
 RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - The Richmond Police officer who blew the whistle on fellow officers accused of making inappropriate comments about harming President Obama and the First Lady was fired from the Richmond Police Department. 
 
 The fired officer, who granted the initial interview to CBS 6 on the condition he remain anonymous, confirmed Wednesday morning what CBS 6 first reported Tuesday, citing Richmond Police sources. 
 
 Multiple sources confirmed that police unscrambled the effects of the whistleblower’s statement on tape to CBS 6. 
 
 The man told CBS 6 reporter Sandra Jones he was ordered to police headquarters Tuesday afternoon where he was met by a several high-ranking police officials. The officials, he said, informed him of his termination. 
 
 The man said Wednesday morning he returned to police headquarters to pick-up a packet of information. Included in that packet, he said, the reason he was fired. 
 
 The reason, he said, was because he violated police department policy by doing an interview with CBS 6 about the a May 5 incident involving the President and the First Lady. 
 
 Richmond Police would not comment on the employee's status with the department. 
 
 "If he's speaking about a matter of public concern as a citizen which it sounds based upon the information provided to me that he was doing. Then, he has protection under the First Amendment,” said Thomas Robert, Employment attorney. 
 
 Employment attorney Thomas Roberts is not associated with this case, but says he sees them all the time. 
 
 "It concerns me and it should concern others, if he was retaliated based upon his right to express his concern on this public matter as well as his opinion,” said Roberts. 
 
 Roberts says public employees do not shed Constitutional protection when they enter the work place. 
 
 "There's no question that this will have a chilling effect upon other members of the police force who will be afraid if they speak out about a matter of public concern. They too may lose their job,” said Roberts. And that makes it a matter that should concern each and every citizen." 
 
 The whistleblower told CBS 6 last year that the inappropriate comments were made by a 20-year police veteran who was talking on the phone to an officer assigned to provide outside security for the president and first lady. The whistleblower reported that the veteran suggested the officer “take a couple of shots . . .” and that another voice in the background talked about planting a bomb under the stage. 
 
 The Secret Service investigated and found no criminal act, but the two officers were fired amidst the furor. The fired officers have been fighting to get their jobs back. 
 
 A letter written by their attorney said the allegations against the officers were “false and/or greatly embellished” and that Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones pressured then Richmond Police Chief Bryan Norwood to fire the officers before letting an internal investigation run its course. 
 
 James Towey, the lawyer, sent a statement to CBS 6. 
 
 "Unfortunately, the termination of the self-proclaimed "whistleblower" does nothing to remedy the fact that his false allegations resulted in the termination of two officers. Their careers were ended and they have gone through eight months of hell," Towey wrote. 
 
 "Until now, the City has been obstructionist, dysfunctional and anything but transparent in this matter. I am optimistic that newly appointed Chief Tarasovic described himself just yesterday as a believer in transparency and an advocate for the rank-and-file officers. If the new Chief is true to his word, the remaining grievance hearing for one of the terminated officers will be opened to the public and the Chief will reconsider the termination of the officers. Perhaps he, like me, will find it interesting that they were both terminated not for making the statements that the self-proclaimed whistleblower claimed they made, but for other "pre textual" reasons that would not normally warrant termination to begin with." 
 
 The fired officer told CBS 6 he is weighing his legal options.
– So much for speaking up: Richmond police have fired a whistleblowing cop for claiming that two officers chatted about shooting and bombing President Obama while protecting him, Raw Story reports. The officer, who wasn't named, told WTVR last May that a supervisor had said to a police sharpshooter, "You’re down there right? So, you can take a couple of shots, you might have to kill yourself, but you can take a couple of shots." The supervisor allegedly discussed planting a bomb under the stage and dissed Michelle Obama, who was also there: "Nobody wants to see her anyway—unless she gets undressed or get [sic] naked." The whistleblowing cop said he was fired for ignoring department policy and giving the TV station an interview. But the two officers involved also lost their jobs: "Their careers were ended and they have gone through eight months of hell" over "false allegations," their lawyer tells WTVR.