Officer Suspended for Name-Calling

(Boston, Massachusetts) A 36-year-old officer with the Boston Police Department, Justin Barrett, has been suspended for writing a racially-charged email in which he reportedly called Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. a "jungle monkey." Barrett sent the email to colleagues in the National Guard.

Barrett, a 36-year-old who has been on the job for two years, was stripped of his gun and badge yesterday and faces a termination hearing in the next week, said police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.

Boston Mayor Menino is pissed at Barrett, even though he hasn't seen the subject email and a hearing hasn't been conducted. Menino said, "He's gone, g-o-n-e. I don't care, it's like cancer, you don't keep those cancers around."

Why bother with a hearing? The mayor makes it sound like a done deal.