Miami police officer suspended after video emerges of him tossing Jewish bible

A Miami police officer has been suspended after video surfaced of him tossing a Jewish holy book and a box engraved with a Star of David, describing it as “crap,” and saying he was “taking out the trash,” NBC Miami reported Friday.

In the video, said to have been unearthed by attorneys John and Andrea Cunill with no details given as to how the film came into their possession, Roberto Destephan throws a copy of the Tanach (bible) and the box into a trash truck.

“We don’t need this s**t either, man,” Destephan can be heard saying in the video. “This crap? F**k this. Taking out the trash, dawg.”

According to NBC Miami, Destephan serves as vice president of Miami’s Fraternal Order of Police, which released a statement in support of the officer, saying the video was doctored.

“Part of the video was taken years ago when the FOP union office was full of mold and termites,” the statement read in part. “Various items including religious books and other miscellaneous items were discarded for health reasons. The books were contaminated due to the mold and termites and needed to discarded [sic] into the trash.”

The organization also said the video was “political blackmail.”

In response to the video, police chief Jorge Colina said Destephan was suspended pending an investigation.

“A disturbing video has surfaced in which a City of Miami Police Sergeant is seen discarding religious contents while making anti-Semitic comments,” Colina said in a statement on Friday. “The City of Miami Police Department has suspended the employee pending an open Internal Affairs investigation.”