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CLEVELAND – Cleveland police are looking into whether an officer’s online postings violate the department’s social media policy.

“I don’t know how a person with those attitudes can fairly and in an unbiased, free way, police a city as diverse and cosmopolitan as Cleveland…I’m Islamic, I’m astounded and I’m disappointed,” said Julia Shearson, Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Cleveland.

Shearson says Tuesday night, she was made aware of Twitter postings linked to a Cleveland police officer, who we are not naming, that she considers racist and degrading.

“He actually retweets a number of things that are offensive to African-Americans, but I would say he reserves his most vehement hatred toward the Muslim community,” she said.

Fox 8 was able to gain access to some of the postings, before the account was disabled.

In one, the user retweets “Patriots who Dare…Join our fight to save America” with a photo attached, with the caption “I will turn back the Muslim hordes…I will protect America at all cost.”

Another shows a photo of a young black man participating in the 50th Anniversary of the March on Selma, with the message…”Step Aside, Rev. Al…the next generation of race baiters has arrived.”

“I would defend the rights of the American people to have whatever attitudes they want because Freedom of Speech is extremely important to me, to my organization and to the American people in general, but there is a difference when the person is a public servant,” Shearson said.

According to the Cleveland Division of Police policy on social media, members cannot share information online that “contains statements or other forms of speech that ridicule, malign, disparage, or otherwise express bias against any race, religion, or protected class of individuals.”

“I know that these attitudes do not represent the best and the brightest and of Cleveland’s finest, do not represent the vast majority of our law enforcement officers,” she added.

Fox 8 tried to ask the officer and the head of the police union about the situation, but we were not able to get a comment.

A police department spokesman says the chief’s office will look into the postings, but a formal investigation has not been launched.