‘We don’t need this sh*t’: Miami cop suspended for ‘desecrating’ Jewish holy items (VIDEO)

A Miami cop has been suspended after a video emerged showing him gleefully trashing a copy of the Hebrew Bible. However, the officer’s local police union insists that the video is heavily edited and part of a blackmail scheme.

The short video appears to show Sgt. Roberto Destephan, a 13-year veteran and vice president of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police, shouting expletives as he tosses Jewish religious items into the back of a truck.

In the clip, Destephan holds up a wooden box with the Star of David, as well as a copy of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible.

“We don’t need this sh*t either,” he says as he tosses the box into the back of a pickup truck. “This crap? F*ck this,” he adds, lobbing the book into the truck as well. He then points the camera at his face and comments: “Taking out the trash, dawg.”

In a written statement, Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina described Destephan’s actions as “anti-Semitic.”

Many on social media seemed to agree, demanding why the officer was “only” suspended for the video.

Others took issue with the fact that the cop was throwing away what appears to be a book in good condition – a faux pas regardless of the tome’s contents.

“I winced as he threw away a fairly new book. Could've been any title and I'd have a similar reaction. As to the matter of respect, it's just paper and ink. The ideas within remains untouched even if the medium is destroyed. I'm more interested in how he feels about Jews,” one person wrote.

But this is where the story becomes less clear. According to the Miami Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) – where Destephan serves as vice president – the accused cop was discarding miscellaneous items from FOP’s Miami office for “health reasons.”

The books were contaminated due to “mold and termites” and needed to be thrown away, FOP President Edward Lugo wrote in a statement.

The union claims that the video was selectively edited as part of a “political blackmail” scheme. FOP is currently holding internal elections, and an anonymous email was sent to Destephan threatening to release the clip to the public if he doesn’t step down from his post at the organization, Lugo wrote.

“While the created video appears to be distasteful and insensitive at first glance, we believe when the entire story is fully investigated the sinister motivations behind its creation will become obvious.”