Greenbrier police officer placed on unpaid leave after social media post

GREENBRIER, TN (WSMV) – A Greenbrier police officer has been placed on unpaid administrative leave following a post on social media.

News4 Investigates uncovered posts made on Cory Tidwell’s Facebook page that some readers found offensive to minorities after the death of a black man in Minneapolis after a police officer is seen kneeling on the man’s neck. Four Minneapolis police officers were fired for their role in the incident.

The City of Greenbrier placed Tidwell on leave on Wednesday after learning from News4 Investigates about the post.

“It was just really offensive coming from someone who’s supposed to be serving and protecting the community,” said Chris Myers in Eastern Kentucky who read the post. Myers then reached out to News4 Investigates, suggesting we look at Tidwell’s Facebook page.

“This morning, the City of Greenbrier became aware of a situation involving a social media page that appeared to belong to one of our police officers. We are currently investigating the situation,” Greenbrier City Manager Rachel Slusser said in an email to News4. “We can ensure that any employee making racist, sexist, or derogatory remarks of any kind will not be tolerated.”

Slusser said Tidwell has been placed on administrative leave without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

Tidwell has made it clear on his Facebook page that he’s a Greenbrier police officer, and he also makes his political opinion known.

Some of his posts offending readers, including memes of Michelle Obama that had to be blurred, and others accusing African-Americans and minorities of committing crimes.

A post he recently made that caught of attention of people in other states when a fellow officer posted the picture of an officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck in which he could be heard saying he couldn’t breathe.

Tidwell posted, “If he was begging … he was blank breathing … same old blank over and over and over.”

News4 Investigates has reached out to Tidwell by phone, through Facebook and email and have not heard back from him.