A Brunswick County sheriff worker was fired after social media post, officials said. | Stock Photo
A Brunswick County sheriff worker was fired after social media post, officials said. | Stock Photo
An employee with the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office was terminated after remarks in a social media post were deemed inappropriate about protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“We want to make it clear the post in question does not reflect our vision, nor our core values,” Sheriff John Ingram said in a June 3 statement to WWAY 3. “We have a very clear social media policy that is based on national standards that states in part, ‘Employees are prohibited from posting, broadcasting, or otherwise disseminating any sexual, violent, racial, ethnically derogatory material, or comments, pictures, artwork, video or other references on their website or through any other medium of communication.’ For this reason, the situation was handled swiftly and emphatically, resulting in the employee’s termination.”
Floyd was reportedly killed by now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May, which sparked widespread protests and calls for police reforms and racial equality. Chauvin has since been charged with murder. Three other Minneapolis police officers have also been charged in connection to Floyd's death.
Ingram did not identify the nature of the remark but said the terminated employee had served at the Brunswick County Jail in Bolivia, WWAY 3 reported. Though he said citizens have a right to freedom of speech, Ingram said officers of the law are held to a higher standard of accountability.
“We take that very seriously,” he told WWAY 3, “our sincerest apologies for the actions, of this now former, employee.”
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