Officer Joseph Zacharek was hired by Lafayette Police Department in June of 2020. Since then, it has been revealed that Zacharek is an active participant on the online Neonazi forum "IronMarch," on which he has repeatedly and consistently shared his racist and anti-Semitic beliefs. 

Here are a few examples of the bigoted beliefs that Officer Zacharek holds and proudly shares online: [1]​ [2]

• Racist Officer Zacharek said that he used to "[fool himself] into thinking all races were equal."
• He says that being in the "inner city" showed him "the diseased culture of blacks and progressives more generally." He has also said that he was convinced to become a Nazi because of "the vile 'culture' of the African"
• He has "actually admitted to [himself that he] was NatSoc," with "NatSoc" referring to National Socialist, or as they are more commonly referred to, Nazis.
• Zacharek perpetuates anti-Semitic rhetoric by claiming that Nazi Germany was "fighting against Judeo-Bolshevism and the world banking elite" and he minimizes the Holocaust by condemning the "murky haze of public school history classes all about 'MUH HOLOCAUST'."
• Officer Zacharek says he is "especially interested in NatSoc [Nazi] economics as a way of throwing off the chains of...Jewish owned banking"
• He refers to Pope Francis, the first pope from outside of Europe, as "a communist subhuman"
• For white supremacist Officer Zacharek, "a country that allowed any White immigration while denying any lesser races is the most ideal and lasting solution"
• Officer Zacharek is also an unapologetic homophobe, referring to Army traditions he did not like as "nothing gayer."

These instances are neither isolated nor rare. Officer Zacharek is a self-proclaimed White supremacist and Nazi, and yet he has been trusted by the Lafayette Police Department and the City of Lafayette to hold authority in a community where 9% of people are black and 16% are not white.

The Lafayette Police Department has acknowledged this new information and has launched an "investigation." However, this is not enough. As long as Officer Joseph Zacharek is employed by the Lafayette Police Department, him and his bigoted and violent fantasies and beliefs pose an imminent danger to the community that the LPD is meant to serve. 

Therefore, we call on the Lafayette Police Department, Chief of Police Patrick J. Flannelly, and Mayor Tony Roswarski to fire Joseph Zacharek.