EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to include a statement from Wilmington Police Department’s FOP Lodge #1 president.
A Wilmington Police sergeant, who was once the department spokeswoman, is being internally investigated after she posted a comment labeling COVID-19 as the “China virus” in a Middletown neighborhood Facebook page, police officials confirmed Monday.
“And just like that…the CHINNNA VIRUS miraculously disappeared,” Wilmington police Sgt. Stephanie Castellani, who was listed as an administrator of the private Facebook group when she posted the comment, wrote.
The police department has faced continued scrutiny for a lack of diversity within its ranks and a perceived hostile work environment, particularly for minority officers. Wilmington residents and city councilmembers alike have called for an outside party to examine the department’s policies and procedures and make recommended changes.
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Among those existing policies include the police officer’s Code of Ethics and the city’s social media policy, both of which Castellani would be aware of given her roles in the department’s Human Resources unit and then as spokeswoman.
READ THE CITY’S SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY AT THE END OF THIS STORY.
The neighborhood Facebook post is not the first time the 20-year police veteran has publicly posted controversial or inappropriate items on social media.
Throughout 2021, Castellani posted claims that the 9/11 terroristic attacks were orchestrated by the U.S. government; alleged prominent figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Mother Theresa are sex or child traffickers; spread misinformation about the coronavirus; and targeted marginalized groups like the transgender community and Black Lives Matter movement, a review of her Facebook profile Monday showed.
Castellani apparently made her profile private after a Delaware Online/The News Journal reporter reached out. She did not respond to a Facebook message requesting comment, and none of the listed phone numbers for the city employee were operable.
The Wilmington sergeant’s comment, posted on the Bayberry North Residents DE private Facebook group, quickly received backlash by other members of the page as well as Wilmington residents, who contacted Councilwoman Shané Darby about the post.
“This is inappropriate for a neighborhood page,” one Bayberry North resident replied. “We have people from all backgrounds who live here and have a right to feel welcomed.”
“Aren’t you a police officer?” another resident commented. “This is a highly inappropriate comment.”
Darby flagged the post Sunday night, emailing police Chief Robert Tracy and Mayor Mike Purzycki about the post. Darby said she received over 20 emails and texts about the comment.
“This is who we want to protect and serve Black and minority communities?” Darby wrote in the email. “We have all these outsiders coming into the city to be officers that have no understanding or care about our community. This is unacceptable.”
Neither city administration nor police spokesman David Karas responded to questions about the posts.
Karas only confirmed that the department is aware of the post and is looking at it internally. The Office of Professional Standards, a division within the police department, oversees and investigates complaints against officers.
Wilmington’s police union, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #1, will support Castellani through the internal investigation, union President Sgt. Michael Groark said Wednesday.
He did not answer questions related to the content of the post nor its potential impact on police-community relations, but criticized Darby for taking offense to the phrase when she previously shared a post on Facebook depicting police in white hoods with the phrase “The Blue Klux Klan.”
“If she just came out and stated she hates police officers, we would accept that. What we won’t accept is her hypocrisy,” Groark said in an emailed statement. “Shane Darby should be condemned for attempting to negatively impact the career of a female police officer and sergeant that has dedicated her professional life to the betterment of the city and its residents.”
Neighborhood group responds
While city officials remain mum, the neighborhood Facebook page’s administrators took prompt action removing Castellani as an administrator and deleting the post.
“The admins do not condone hate speech of any kind,” Francisco Xavier Fernandez Jr., one of the administrators, said in a Facebook message. “We are a very strong and diverse community, and this is not something any of us condone.”
But it was not without heated discussion among the neighborhood page’s members, according to one Bayberry North resident who spoke with The News Journal on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
The resident said members had to explain to others why it’s dangerous to link any virus to a culture or country.
“The fact that she’s a cop, that did not sit well with me,” she said. “I’m African American. I see how language like that has led to a rise in hate crimes toward Asian Americans. As a cop you don’t know who you are serving.”
Wanting to avoid stigmatizing an entire group of people, the World Health Organization early on advised media to describe the virus as COVID-19, or coronavirus. Experts also warned that continued use could increase discrimination and racism against Asian Americans.
“Don’t attach locations or ethnicity to the disease, this is not a ‘Wuhan Virus,’ ‘Chinese Virus’ or ‘Asian Virus,’” the WHO warned on Feb. 11, 2020. “The official name for the disease was deliberately chosen to avoid stigmatization.”
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But not all heeded the warning, and on March 8, 2020, conservative politicians and media outlets referred to COVID-19 as the Wuhan or China virus, and it quickly gained steam across social media platforms.
A study, entitled “After ‘The China Virus’ Went Viral” and published in September 2020, found that much of the media using stigmatizing terms was generated directly by prominent elected officials, including former President Donald Trump. Researchers urged elected officials to avoid language that “can inflame biases and thus may threaten the health and well-being of Asian Americans.”
Statistics show the stigmatizing language did exactly that. Anti-Asian hate crimes surged nearly 150% in 2020 and have persisted throughout the pandemic, according to the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism.
From March 19, 2020 to Dec. 31, a total of 10,905 hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islander persons were reported to Stop AAPI Hate. Of those incidents, 42.5% occurred in 2020, while 57.5% occurred last year, according to Stop AAPI Hate’s latest national report.
Social media policy
Wilmington’s social media policy, which applies to all city employees, requires any employee who identifies themselves as a city employee on a social media network to clearly state that the views they express on social media are “the employee’s alone and that they do not necessarily reflect the views of the city.”
The social media policy further notes that a disclaimer is “particularly important when commenting on sensitive or controversial issues” as well as when an employee’s comment contradicts a position or interest of the city.
When Castellani’s profile was still public, she listed herself as having “worked” at the Wilmington Police Department. However, she is still employed with the department and has been since 2002, Karas confirmed.
The police sergeant’s public posts on Facebook remained innocuous until January 2021 when the tone shifted.
For example, on June 12, Castellani shared a video, commenting: “CHINA VIRUS: It’s time to hold China, Fauci, the media and Big Tech accountable!!!”
On Sept. 11, she posted, in part: “9/11 was a lie. It was not the Middle East that attacked us. It was our own country. The deep states military industrial complex.”
A week later, on Sept. 18, she shared an article about an anticipated “far-right rally” and commented, “With regard to today’s rally in DC, let’s see if anything BIG comes out of this…say…perhaps…ANOTHER insurrection…orchestrated by our very own FBI and carried out by ANTIFA & BLM posing as TRUMP supporters.”
Wilmington’s social media policy prohibits employees from displaying city logos without permission, posting images of coworkers without their consent, disclosing confidential or proprietary information about the city, or acting as a spokesperson for the city. It also prohibits employees from making statements about the city, coworkers, customers, or citizens that “could be considered as harassing, threatening, libelous, or defamatory in any way.”
Employees are also prohibited from sharing information that “engages in personal or sexual harassment, unfounded accusations, or remarks that would contribute to a hostile work environment (racial, sexual, religious, etc.).”
Councilman Christofer Johnson, who has pushed for a community police review board and stronger violence prevention efforts, said he wasn’t aware of the comment prior to being contacted by a News Journal reporter Monday afternoon, but noted that there is a “fine line” in dealing with city employees’ comments and actions on social media outside of their work capacity.
“There is obviously free speech, which is different if they identify as an officer versus if they are doing this in their official capacity,” he said. “There is a first amendment right, not that I agree with that comment, but you know, again, not everyone agrees with what everyone says. She’s currently an active member on the force, and I would say (the Office of Professional Standards) can make their official investigation and then see where it goes from there.”
The policy notes that the city regularly monitors its online reputation, and information it receives through those efforts will be dealt with, including discipline or even termination. City employees who witness inappropriate social media use have a duty to inform the city’s Human Resources Department.
“Employees should always remain aware of the public nature of their online activities,” the social media policy states. “There is no expectation of privacy with respect to content posted on the internet.”
Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com, or 302-598-5507. Follow her on Twitter at @mandy_fries.
