Indiana Officer Fired After Discovery of Ties To Neo-Nazi Internet Forums

Authorities said over the weekend that a police recruit in Lafayette, Indiana, was fired the discovery of his apparent ties to a neo-Nazi internet forum, authorities said Saturday. , Lafayette Police Chief Patrick Flannelly said in a statement that the recruit, Joseph Zacharek, is believed to have participated in a forum called “Iron March” four years ago. The department was alerted to Zacharek’s posts on Friday, when a self-described anti-fascist tagged its Twitter account with a link to messages from the forum that were posted on a site called “ironmarch exposed.” The department opened an investigation and determined that the messages were accurate and credible.

Zacharek was hired by the department earlier this year and had “no exposure” to the public, Chief Flannelly said. The statement added that it had conducted a background check on Zacharek but hadn’t found any connections to the forum during that process.