By BETSY TAYLOR
Associated Press Writer
ST. LOUIS- A hip-hop radio station said it has fired two of its radio personalities after an on-air discussion last month of ways to fight police officers.
The disc jockeys - whose professional names are DJ Kaos and DJ Sylli Asz - and callers to their morning show discussed how to fight for an officer’s radio so the officer cannot call for help.
The comments were made July 13, eight days after a police sergeant was killed in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood.
General manager Lee Clear said the station does not advocate violence of any kind.
“We at KATZ-FM have the utmost respect for the men and women in law enforcement who risk their lives every day to serve our community,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
The station noted it previously raised more than $8,000 in donations for the family of slain Kirkwood police Sgt. William McEntee.
The president of the Missouri State Lodge for the Fraternal Order of Police, Tom Mayer, applauded the station’s action. He said the organization, which represents the interests of law enforcement officers, had forwarded some letters to the station with concerns about the on-air remarks.
“We’re the blue line between good and bad, and if people are told how to harm us, that line can be crossed and ineffective,” Mayer said.
Clear Channel Communications owns 100.3, known as “The Beat.” The station would not release the announcers’ legal names, though a station official agreed to forward a request to the men for comment.