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| Nothing is off limits since the verdict. Some LAPD officers will face discipline after attending a party for a retired officer. A performer played "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" and happened to insert unarmed teen Michael Brown in it. |
With heighten tensions in St. Louis County after another police shooting, the Los Angeles Police Department is doing an investigation of some of its officers who appeared at a retirement party where someone was parodying a song mocking unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
KTLA reports that the police department launched a preliminary investigation into a video that has emerged of a song that plays on the shooting death of Michael Brown. It was sung at a party thrown by a retired LAPD officer.
Police confirmed to the Los Angeles Times the investigation into the video, on which can be heard a parody of “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” that refers to the Ferguson, Mo., 18-year-old and includes lines such as, “His brain was splatter on the floor.”
The song was sung during a recent party hosted at the Glendale Elks Lodge by a retired LAPD officer, police said.
“I am aware of the video released via TMZ. Like many of you, I find it offensive & absurd. It does not reflect the values of the #LAPD,” Chief Charlie Beck tweeted. “I have directed our Professional Standards Bureau to look into this & determine if any active department employees were involved.”
Gary Fishell was performing the song.
The song was a parody of "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown." Gary Fishell, the performer and a member of the Lodge, changed the lyrics, which include:
Michael Brown learned a lesson about a messin'
With a badass policeman
And he's bad, bad Michael Brown
Baddest thug in the whole damn town
Badder than old King Kong
Meaner than a junkyard dog
Two men took to fightin'
And Michael punched in through the door
And Michael looked like some old Swiss cheese
His brain was splattered on the floor
And he's dead, dead Michael Brown
Deadest man in the whole damn town
His whole life's long gone
Deader than a roadkill dog
The event was the capper for a charity golf event, thrown by retired LAPD Officer Joe Myers, a 32 year veteran who left the force in 2007. We're told 50-60 people attended the dinner, and about half were cops, most of whom were retired. The others were civilians.
Fishell is a P.I. who once worked as an investigator for the Federal Government. His lawyer tells TMZ, Fishell now realizes the song was "off color and in poor taste." The lawyer adds, "He's a goofball who writes funny songs." We asked why Fishell would sing this in a room full of cops, and the lawyer replied, "He thought the room would get a kick out of it."
Wonder what this goofball says about the protesters who believe that police reform is necessary in the wake to two officers in New York being gunned down?