GRAND CHUTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Police in Grand Chute are continuing their internal investigation of an officer who has admitted making social media posts with racist language when he was a teenager.
According to a memorandum released publicly on Thursday, Officer Bryce La Luzerne’s tweets came to light on May 31. That is when someone who claims to have known La Luzerne for several years created an anonymous Facebook page to share the tweets.
The police department says La Luzerne is apologetic for tweets which contained racial slurs and told investigators they do not represent his personal views. The investigation has determined that in many cases the tweets contained words and phrases from popular songs.
They were posted between 2011 and 2014, when La Luzerne was between 16 and 18 years old.
La Luzerne began working for the Grand Chute Police Department in December 2017.
Police are also investigating a post La Luzerne made on Instagram last October. In the post, he used the phrase, “The Boogaloo,” which has been linked to white supremacist views. La Luzerne told investigators that he used the phrase in the context of support for the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment guarantee of the right to bear arms. He provided evidence to back up his claim.
The department also reviewed the background check done at La Luzerne’s hiring, which included psychological and lie detector tests. The background check did not show any racist tendencies.
Investigators also looked into La Luzerne’s arrest and use-of-force records. They found that there was no discernable difference between the way La Luzerne handled interactions with Black people and those with white people.
The investigation also involved character witnesses. Those who knew La Luzerne told investigators they never saw any evidence of racist views.
Police say their investigation is ongoing.
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