Ohio police officer suspended on suspicion of celebrating activist's death

By Kim Palmer

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A Dayton, Ohio-area police officer has been suspended on suspicion of posting a comment online that celebrated the suicide of a 23-year-old Black Lives Matter activist, police said on Friday.

Fairborn Police officer Lee Cyr was placed on administrative leave on Thursday due to the comment on the Ohio Politics Facebook page, apparently attributed to him, that read "Love a happy ending," the department said in a statement.

The post has been deleted and police said they are investigating if Cyr made the comment.

Cyr has not spoken to media about the incident.

The activist, MarShawn McCarrel, 23, shot himself on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on Monday after posting “My demons won today. I'm sorry.” to his Facebook page.

Fairborn police said on Friday: "The department takes these types of issues very seriously and will ensure that the professional standards of the department are upheld."

(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by David Gregorio)