NYS Court Officer Terry Pinto Napolitano

A state court officer in Brooklyn Criminal Court has been suspended over a Facebook post that apparently depicts the lynching of a black man resembling former President Barack Obama.

An alleged screenshot of the post, sent to a Law Journal reporter but which could not be independently verified, also includes a side-by-side, second depiction that appears to show former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton being taken forcibly to a wooden apparatus for a hanging.

The side-by-side depictions, which apparently were part of a post that the officer had made public on her page Friday, have an overarching caption that reads: "The True American Dream."

Above the depiction of a black man hanging from a rope, who appears to be dead, a smaller caption says: "We Will Not Yield!"

The posting also includes two hashtags: "#Obamagate" and "#treason."

A memo to all state court staff issued on Saturday by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore and Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks appears to confirm that a racist post was placed on Facebook, though it does not state the officer's name.

But the chief spokesman of the state Office of Court Administration on Sunday confirmed to the Law Journal that the officer being referenced in the memo is Sgt. Terri Pinto Napolitano. A Facebook post by the New York State Court Officers Association on Saturday also named Napolitano, saying, "She does not speak for Court Officers."

Dennis Quirk, the head of the Court Officers Association, posted the organization's statement to his own Facebook page, along with the same screenshot that was sent to the Law Journal.

DiFiore's and Marks' memo, addressed "To Our Court Family," says in part that an "employee recently posted on Facebook a vile, racist photo depicting and advocating the lynching of an African American man and woman." The memo, a copy of which the Law Journal has obtained, also says that the Facebook post is "abhorrent … at any time," and then points out that it comes "at this critical moment in our history—when our nation is reeling from the death of George Floyd and its aftermath" and "it is a sickening and unpardonable offense against every colleague in our court system, as well as the vast and diverse public that we serve."

Napolitano, who as a sergeant is a supervisor in the state court system, has been suspended, with pay, for 30 days, said Lucian Chalfen, the Office of Court Administration spokesman, in an email Sunday.

Chalfen added in the email that an investigation of Napolitano's Facebook post—which she apparently removed at some point after Friday, taking down her entire Facebook page—has been opened by the state's Office of Court Administration.

Napolitano's gun has also been taken, Chalfen noted.

Efforts to reach Napolitano on Sunday afternoon were not successful.

Meanwhile, her fellow court officers are speaking out in comments sections on Facebook, including, for example, a publicly posted comment from a person who lists herself on Facebook as a "Court officer at Unified Court System."

The women says in the comment that Napolitano is "an embarrassment and a huge disappointment to the uniform."

The comment also says that Napolitano is a member of the court officer's Ceremonial Unit.

"Shame on you Terri," the comment concludes.