FRANKLINVILLE, N.J. — A prison officer has been suspended and a FedEx worker is out of a job after participating in a counter-protest to a Black Lives Matter demonstration, during which people reenacted the death of George Floyd.
In videos shot Monday and widely shared on social media, protesters march along a street in Franklin Township chanting “George Floyd!” and “Black Lives Matter!”
As they march past a private property, a man can be seen kneeling on the neck of another man, shouting unintelligibly back at protesters.
Warning: The video below contains language some readers might find offensive.
"Comply with the cops, and this wouldn't have happened," he appears to yell in another video of the incident posted by Twitter user Lexi Fagotti.
The New Jersey Department of Corrections put out a statement Tuesday that said they were made aware that one of its officers participated in the "hateful and disappointing" stunt and has been suspended and banned from department facilities while officials investigate.
The fallout continued Tuesday night as FedEx said in a statement they had let go of an employees involved in the stunt.
"FedEx holds its team members to a high standard of personal conduct," the statement said. "We do not tolerate the kind of appalling and offensive behavior depicted in this video."
The identities of the individuals seen in the videos have yet to be released.
Editor's note: A previous version of this article said the FedEx worker was fired, but it is not clear how the employee left the company. The article has since been updated to reflect that.
This story was originally published by Mark Sundstrom and Aliza Chasan at WPIX, with contribution from The Associated Press.
