Springfield police officer responsible for posting racist remarks resigns

A Springfield police officer who had been placed on unpaid leave last week after allegedly posting racist and anti-Semitic social media posts using an online profile resigned Tuesday.

Aaron Paul Nichols submitted his resignation shortly before an internal affairs meeting was scheduled, a news release from the SPD stated.

Nichols' resignation was effective immediately.

Previous story: Springfield police officer placed on leave after 'racist' social media posts discovered

Nichols, a patrol officer for close to 18 years, had a salary of $85,320. Nichols patrolled mostly the west and southwest sides of the city.

Nichols retired from the Illinois Air National Guard eight years ago, where he served as a tech sergeant.

Late Thursday, an article was published by Anonymous Comrades Collective that quoted tweets allegedly linked to Nichols.

Earlier more than three dozen Illinois legislators demanded the SPD fully address the "disturbing allegations of hate activity" by the officer.

State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, said in a statement that the posts were "shocking and disgusting."

"(The comments) are an affront to our great community and the remarkable men and women of the police department that serves it," Turner added. "I believe there needs to be a thorough, independent investigation of this former officer and his conduct. But I want to thank the department for taking swift action, and I hope to be a resource as we move forward together as a community.”

Despite Nichols' resignation, the SPD said it was committed to "a complete and thorough investigation into the comments and actions (of Nichols)."

In a statement Friday afternoon, Scarlette said the department had "immediately launched an internal investigation."

In addition to being placed on unpaid administrative leave, Nichols had his police powers removed.

Teresa Haley, the president of the Springfield chapter and state conference of the NAACP, said Nichols resigned to protect his pension and wants Nichols to be fired and decertified an officer.

"We're still going to pursue those things," Haley said. "He is an officer of the law. He is supposed to serve and protect our community and not hurt or harm or have people fearful."

David Amerson, a staff attorney for the Police Benevolent & Protective Association Unit 5, said public pensions are a form of payment for services already rendered, "not a bonus, privilege or 'gold watch.' It is not legally permissible to revoke someone’s pension because they were terminated or resigned, just like you couldn’t legally require an employee to return wages they were previously paid. The narrow category for forfeiting pensions is for certain criminal felonies.

"An officer resigning does not necessarily terminate any investigations into the underlying violation. I could speculate that there are a host of reasons why a government agency would want to continue to conduct an investigation, even if employee discipline is already a moot point. One reason could be to review their processes to ensure such violations don’t occur again."

Haley said reading the blog messages attributed to Nichols was "very, very disturbing to me personally. I can only imagine how those individuals who had to work with this officer, especially Black officers, must be feeling, the betrayal, the lack of trust.

"It's truly unfortunate, but what's in the dark, comes to the light."

Nancy Sage, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Springfield, acknowledged the swift action taken by Scarlette last week, but "anyone who harbors racist or anti-Semitic beliefs should not be in a position trust," she added.

Haley said the NAACP was planning a community-wide "unity summit" at Southeast High School, 2350 E. Ash St., at 6 p.m. April 13. Sage said the Jewish Federation would also be part of it.

"This is a fresh wound, but I want us to have an opportunity to reflect and really come together and talk about what is we want and what we need to do for the Springfield community to heal," Haley said.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield IL police officer Aaron Nichols resigns after racist posts