Off-Duty Cop Who Aimed Slur at Carl Crawford is Just One Idiot

A police officer in Leominster was just fired from the force for making a racist slur aimed at Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford during a minor league game on July 5. And once again, the national media is covering the story, bringing attention to Boston, already regarded by some as one of America’s most racist cities.

In this case, a cop named John Perrault is accused of calling Crawford a “Monday,” a word that can be used as a derogatory term for African Americans and gets its origin from Monday being the most hated day of the week. Crawford alerted officials at the game after hearing the taunts coming from the off-duty officer.

Because the incident surrounds sports, it’s hard not to think back to late April when the Bruins were eliminated from the playoffs, thanks in part to the overtime goal by Joel Ward of the Capitals, who is black. This one moment on the ice sparked a mad flurry of racist tweets and an avalanche of media scrutiny.

There are some differences between the two hate-filled episodes. The people who chimed in after the Bruins’ loss represented a large swath of people taking their ignorant malice to the public airwaves of Twitter. It was a mob of mayhem and idiocy. Perrault, on the other hand, just appears to be one idiot — one idiot with a history of making racist remarks.

In Perrault’s termination notice, Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella stated that Perrault had allegedly slurred black NBA players in the past and had made a derogatory remark about African-Americans at a St. Patrick’s Day event. Enough was enough, the city decided, so Perrault was shown the door. ”Your actions are so egregious that severe discipline is warranted,” Mazzrella said. ”There is no place for someone who exhibits such objectionable behavior in the Leominster Police Department.”

Perrault is fighting his termination. According to the AP, “Perrault’s attorney, Joseph Sandulli, said his client would either appeal through the civil service commission or file a grievance through the police union. Sandulli said Perrault didn’t intend the word as a racist insult and the city overreacted.”

It would be nice to think that Boston and surrounding areas will not be painted with the wide brush of hate because of what one cop has supposedly done. He certainly represents no one but himself. But around Boston, which has earned its historical reputation as a racist city, everything, sadly, is under a microscope.