The membership of the Medford Police Patrolmen’s Association supports Patrolman Jason Montalbano 100%.  As he clarified in today’s public statement, Ptl. Montalbano did not intend to demean or offend Islam or Muslims in general.  His record of service to the City of Medford supports this statement as there is no evidence of hostility by Ptl. Montalbano towards Muslims or any other religious or ethnic group.  His intention in the post was simply to support aggressive military action against ISIS and other terrorist groups, a position supported by both the United States government and an overwhelming majority of the American public.

Here is the text of Officer Montabano’s statement from today’s press conference.

“There has obviously been an outcry over my Facebook post since it hit the media.  I am here to clarify the message I intended to send.  When I first saw the post on another site, I took it as targeting ISIS.  My intention in posting it on my private Facebook page was to support aggressive military action against the ISIS terrorist threat.  In retrospect, I understand that the reference to Islam was inappropriately overbroad and offensive to Muslims and non - Muslims alike.  I did not intend to demean Islam and or Muslims in general, nor do I personally harbor ill will in any way towards Islam or Muslims in general.  I sincerely apologize, not for my intended message, but for my carelessness in the inappropriate way in which the message was transmitted.”