A rookie Indiana cop was fired after being exposed for his involvement with a Neo-Nazi website
- Indiana police officer Joseph Zacharek was fired for working with a Neo-Nazi site called Iron March.
- The site was deleted back in 2017, but its database was exposed in late 2019.
- Zacharek's involvement, which was discussed over social media, did not come up in his background check when joined the department back in June.
Joseph Zacharek, former Lafayette Police officer, was fired for his association with a now-deleted Neo-Nazi website called Iron March.
The site was taken down in 2017, years before Zacharek joined the department in June of 2020. His ties to the site did not come up in his background check.
"I know the question everyone will have is, how does something like this get missed in a background investigation," Police Chief Pat Flannelly told the Journal & Courier. "How is it possible and how do we prevent this from ever happening again? I'm not going to sugar-coat this. Ultimately, it's my responsibility. We missed it."
Zacharek's involvement with Iron March came to light via social media. While it has been inactive since 2017, the site's database was exposed in late 2019.
The link in the Tweet shows an account under the name of Panzerleiter connected to Zacharek's Gmail account.
"It wasn't until I started working as an EMT in the inner city that I openly questioned the view that all races are equal," Panzerleiter wrote on the site. "I was exposed to the vile 'culture' of the African and learned that everything I had been taught on race had been a flimsy fabrication which was not supported by real world evidence."
"I'm especially interested in NatSoc economics as a way of throwing off the chains of usury and Jewish owned banking," Panzerleiter wrote in the same comment.
Zacharek was called into the police station on Friday to discuss the social media claims, and he said they were true. He was fired by noon on Saturday, Flannelly told the Journal & Courier, adding that the agency will review its background check process.
Public information officer with LPD Lt. Matt Gard told Journal & Courier that Zacharek had never been assigned to patrol the streets of Lafeyette, as he was still in training.