NEW ORLEANS - A New Orleans police officer was stripped of all policing powers after he made disturbing posts on social media.

NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson announced Friday that Sgt. Anthony Edenfield was decommissioned pending an internal investigation into comments he made online. 

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— NOPD Chief Shaun Ferguson (@NOPDChief) June 12, 2020

WWL-TV reports Edenfield called protesters "animals" on social media and commented that he would run them over with his vehicle or shoot them if he felt it was necessary. The posts first began circulating on social media about a week ago and date back to May, when protests first began in the wake of the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis.

There is currently no indication that Edenfield was part of the NOPD response to protests throughout the area in recent weeks, according to NOLA.com.