Former New Jersey police officer reacts to firing over BLM post: Law enforcement in a 'sad state of affairs'

Former New Jersey police officer Sara Erwin, who was terminated by the Hopewell Township Police Department after calling Black Lives Matter "terrorists," told "The Ingraham Angle" Wednesday that the state of policing in America is "disheartening."

ERWIN: I wrote what I wrote last June, it was a very emotional weekend. There were riots that had broken out in nearby Trenton. We had to send officers to that location. And I was receiving texts and phone calls and family members, friends checking in and seeing if I was OK. As the night went on, I made it home. It was a night shift, got home and decided to make a post. And I wanted to just let everybody know I was OK. And I was home… It's disheartening, to say the least. It's. It's really a sad state of affairs, in my opinion.

Erwin's attorney, Frank Crivelli, added that calls for a lesser penalty for Erwin were "totally ignored" despite the recommendation of law enforcement professionals who testified at the departmental hearing.

CRIVELLI: The bottom line is, we had what was called a departmental hearing. And during the departmental hearing, the acting chief actually testified and the acting chief testified to the hearing officer that the maximum penalty that these two officers should receive is what we call a minor disciplinary action in New Jersey, which is a suspension of no more than five days. That was his professional recommendation. It was the professional recommendation of the police consultant that they hired, that they should receive an even lesser penalty. And despite those recommendations, which came from law enforcement professionals, the hearing officer totally ignored it. And in essence, he made the determination that Sara should, in fact, be fired and Sergeant Gray should receive a six-month suspension and be demoted to the rank of a patrol officer. 

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