Grand Chute PD (Fox 11 Online)
GRAND CHUTE , WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Protesters at the Grand Chute police department over the weekend demanded the firing of a police officer over several social media posts, some dating back to when the officer was in high school.
The posts made by Officer Bryce La Luzerne contained song lyrics dating back to 2011 that contained racial slurs and a 2019 reference to the “boogaloo”, an internet term referencing a second civil war.
“They use recidivism and and they use violent, criminalizing tactics and they employ and protect racist police,” a protester says.
What started as a protest, also sparked a conversation.
“I was particularly grateful for the opportunity to talk to a few people who stayed here and shared their ideas with us. I think it was productive. I certainly understand what’s driving the protest, driving the anger. We are not in disagreement over that,” Grand Chute Police Department Chief Greg Peterson says.
“I became concerned that there is an officer here that works in Grand Chute that has these historically racist comments. I don’t know how it is now but that’s all I know is from the past. He’s an officer, he has a gun, he has the power of the state. I’m concerned for my family members and my friends who may be people of color,” Protester Bill VanLopik says.
Protesters communicated these concerns with Chief Peterson.
“We have to be prepared to do whatever our community expects, to reach out to the community, to treat them with respect and dignity and so I think depending upon the outcome here, perhaps severely damaged that community trust, we will have to perhaps go back to the playbook again but also consider new avenues for us to pursue as well,” Chief Peterson says.
Opposing protesters also appeared.
“Unless you’re from Patriot’s Soapbox, we ain’t going to talk to you,” opposing protesters said.
Police say they hope this protest will allow for more open conversations between officers and the community.
“Might be a community forum of some sort, it might be one-on-ones, it might be making ourselves available to talk to whomever it may be that has concerns about this department and come in and look at us. If you ask a question, we will provide you with an answer. If you can help us understand that we’re doing something poorly or we could do something better and then perhaps you could also help us work on improvement and work on change,” Chief Peterson says.
Officers say they hope to finish the investigation of Officer La Luzerne in about two weeks.
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