2 Virginia Police Officers Are Fired amid Allegations of Links to White Nationalists

Two Virginia police officers who worked for different agencies were fired this week after an anti-fascist group linked them to white nationalist organizations.

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Anti-Fascists of the Seven Hills, which said it was based in Richmond, Va., wrote online in February that Sergeant [Robert A. Stamm of the Virginia Division of Capitol Police] Stamm {snip} was linked to the Asatru Folk Assembly, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has described as an extremist group that invokes pre-Christian Nordic spirituality. {snip}

Sergeant Stamm was suspended after the group published its post. On Wednesday, Col. Anthony S. Pike, the Capitol Police chief, announced in a statement that Sergeant Stamm had been “separated from his employment.” He did not explain what had led to the firing.

In Facebook messages on Thursday night, Mr. Stamm said that he was discriminated against for his Asatru religion.

“My religion is not politics, it is faith,” he wrote. “My constitutional rights were violated. Period.”

In the second case, Daniel Morley, a school resource officer with the Chesterfield County Police Department, was fired Thursday following an investigation into allegations that he was affiliated with the group Identity Evropa, also known as the American Identity Movement. Members of that group helped plan the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Antifa Seven Hills had identified Mr. Morley as a “pledge coordinator” for the group, which recruits on college campuses and elsewhere. {snip}

Mr. Morley was suspended in March while the department investigated the claims. Col. Jeffrey S. Katz, the police chief, wrote on social media on Thursday that investigators had authenticated the online postings and activities.

“The views espoused by and attributed to Mr. Morley violate county and departmental policy and our organizational values; his continued employment is antithetical to the expectations of our personnel and those we serve,” he wrote.

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