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BARTOW, Fla. (970 WFLA) - Protesters are demanding that a Bartow police officer and the chief of police be fired after the officer called President Obama a "gorilla" on Facebook.
Christina Arribas was suspended for 23-hours in November shortly after the election, not for the racist post, but for being pictured online in her uniform, which is against department policy.
Demonstrators piled up bananas outside police chief Joe Hall's office at the department to send a message.
“Every time they eat a banana I want them to remember the statement that was made. You know, gorillas and monkeys, they’ve been known to have an appetite for bananas,” Pastor Clayton Cowart told News Channel 8.
Cowart, from the Poor and Minority Justice Association, said Chief Hall should be fired for not firing Arribas.
The protesters came from Bibleway Royal Christian Academy of Winter Haven.
Many waved signs along the street outside the police department.
Polk County State Attorney Brian Haas sent a letter to Arribas saying his "office will no longer use you as a witness in any of our cases."
Bartow's city attorney Sean Parker said the case is closed.
“It’s disappointing for a police officer. It’s disappointing for a chief who will not hold her accountable for her statements,” Cowart said.
photo credit: WFLA-TV