Ohio police officer Sgt. Robert Biddle, of Shreve police, has been put on leave because he posted on Facebook while on department time, not because he used an apparent racial slur in his message.

“Been at work for ONE HOUR and the monkeys have already exceeded their limit of snark I’m gonna take for the night,” Biddle posted. “PUMP THE BRAKES, MONKEYS!”

Even though the post was shared hundreds of times by angry readers, Biddle insists he meant nothing racist.

“I call my wife monkey,” Biddle said. “Unfortunately, it’s a term I’m going to have to learn not to use. I’ve learned now, the timing was really bad.”

Fortunately for Biddle, his boss Chief Ron Kiner believes him.

“I’m sure there was nothing racist meant by that post, because he’s just not like that,” Kiner said. “During the 11 years I’ve worked with him, I’ve never heard him make a racial slur and we’ve never had a complaint.”

Nonetheless, Biddle was put on indefinite unpaid suspension for posting during his shift and griping about his job.

According to Mayor Yvonne Hendershott, the post will be investigated but believes that he wasn’t trying to be racist.

“I think it all got blown out of proportion because of everything that was going on in the world,” Hendershott said. “I have zero tolerance for that. If I even had an inkling that it was (racist), he would have been gone, but I’m 100 percent sure it wasn’t.”

Until now, Biddle had no corrective actions in his file.

“I am sorry, I really am,” Biddle said. “It wasn’t meant to come off that way. I’m not that kind of person, and I’m sorry that I’ve hurt people in this. But please give some benefit of the doubt that I’m telling the truth.”