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Pennsylvania State Police are investigating media reports one of their own made a racial joke earlier this year on social media.

Trooper Tom Kelly reportedly admitted to the Feb. 9 Facebook post in an off-air telephone conversation with WILK-FM radio host Steve Corbett, according to a column by Corbett which ran on the opinion page of Thursday’s Times Leader.

Corbett said Kelly confirmed quipping on someone else’s Facebook page that his wallet was missing after falling on “black ice.”

Kelly declined comment when contacted by the Times Leader on Thursday.

“We are aware of the situation with Tpr. Kelly and our internal affairs bureau is investigating,” PSP Spokeswoman Maria A. Finn told the Times Leader on Thursday evening. “It is our policy to not comment on pending investigations or personnel issues.”

According to Corbett, Kelly told the radio host that he is not a racist, and that the post was a joke in bad taste. The telephone conversation did not take place on the radio, Corbett said.

Kelly, a PSP spokesman for the Troop P Wyoming Barracks, also is known for his role as director of Camp Cadet, an annual program in which youth from around the region are given a taste of life as a state police cadet.

Kelly
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_trooper_kelly2.jpg.optimal.jpgKelly

By Roger DuPuis

[email protected]

Reach Roger DuPuis at 570-991-6113 or on Twitter @rogerdupuis2.