The sheriff of Brevard County, Florida has spoken out against a social media post offering to hire the six Atlanta police officers facing charges from a tasing incident during recent protests.
“To be clear, the ‘Brevard County F.O.P.’ page and organization has no official affiliation with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and was not authorized in any capacity by me or our agency to recruit or comment on our behalf!!,” Sheriff Wayne Ivey said on his own social media page. “The comments made by their members do not in any way represent the views of our agency and were made as individuals who were not acting in the capacity of a Law Enforcement Officer!!”
The earlier post, which briefly sent “Brevard” trending on Twitter, referenced the officers in Atlanta as well as those in Buffalo, New York, who resigned after a protester was shoved to the ground.
“Hey Buffalo 57...and Atlanta 6...we are hiring in Florida, the post said. “Lower taxes, no spineless leadership, or dumb mayors rambling on at press conferences...Plus...we got your back!”
Ivey repudiated the message on his own Facebook page.
“Our Sheriff’s Office members are represented by another association who also had no knowledge or association with the post as collectively, we work together to run one of the most professional agencies in the country!!” he wrote. “While I absolutely understand everyone’s concerns regarding this post and it’s inflammatory nature, please understand and accept that our agency had nothing to do with it’s occurrence and does not condone its content in any way!!”
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced criminal charges against six officers after the arrest of two Atlanta college students during the city's curfew crackdown on the second night of protests. Two of the officers were fired after video showed the two pulling the students from a car and shocking them with Tasers.
An investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution later determined one of the officers, Willie T. Sauls, had previously faced allegations of using excessive force.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Protests in Atlanta
Two Buffalo officers were charged after viral video showed them shoving an elderly protester to the ground. Fifty-seven officers later resigned from the Buffalo department after the incident.
After Brevard police deleted the post Monday, some angered by it wrote comments on earlier posts.
“Do NOT let them forget. We will not forget,” one woman wrote. “You can delete this again, I’ll just repost it.”
The post offering to hire the Atlanta and Buffalo officers isn’t visible on Facebook page for the Brevard Fraternal Order of Police. Its most recent post is from June 3.
“This Thin Blue Line represents the hundreds of thousands of men and women of ALL RACES who stand in the gap and put their lives on the line each and every single day for humans of every color, including those who hate them,” it reads.
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